


Assassin's Creed: Twilight

by Raggetymanftw



Series: Bella Has Always Been Deadly [1]
Category: Assassin's Creed AU - Fandom, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Assassin's Creed/Twilight Fusion, Badass Bella Swan, Bella has Eagle Vision, Bella killed him though, Bella swears, But mostly just in her head, F/M, More 'what if Bella was an Assassin', Not really about Assassin's Creed, bamf!Bella Swan, past rape mentioned, this fic doesn't have actual rape in it past this brief mention in chapter 2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:49:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27914077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raggetymanftw/pseuds/Raggetymanftw
Summary: What if Bella was an Assassin, trained to kill and spy from the cradle. What if Renee wasn't just some harebrained woman? What if that was just her cover?----------------------I'm just changing gears for a while, taking a break from my witch!Bella AUs. I will be coming back to them soon. I read some Assassin!Bella fics on fanfiction.net, and I was inspired to do my own take on the AU. I hope you enjoy, please tell me if you do. I need to know if I should continue this or not.
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Whitlock, Bella Swan/You'll see, Emmett McCarthy/Rosalie Hale
Series: Bella Has Always Been Deadly [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2043997
Comments: 20
Kudos: 58





	1. The Devil's Introduction

I had to mail my blades to Charlie’s address in Forks, can’t exactly carry hidden weapons on the plane. Renee had offered to call in a favour to have me jetted over there, without a bags check, but I didn’t want special treatment (though Renee was sending my car over, which I was grateful for. I didn’t want Charlie to have to drive me everywhere in his cruiser. Nothing slowed down traffic like a cop). I may have sort of graduated from assassin school, and I may have been the daughter of a _very_ important mentor, but I could go to Forks without special clearance. My wrists would just have to feel naked for the hours it would take before I could get them back. They had already arrived, of course. Charlie had told me, wondering what the package was. I just told him they were sentimental items that I didn’t trust to leave in the hands of airport people. It was a believable lie, of course. Charlie didn’t know what I was, what his ex-wife was. He was blissfully ignorant of the battle, the war that was waged in the shadows. Hunting in the shadows to serve the light. That was the Creed of a Hidden One. 

Even though I was being sent to Forks, it was only until I became of age. I had surpassed my training, but I was still too young to be sent on _real_ missions. I had the brand on my right ring finger to prove it. The burn wasn’t something that was common in the Brotherhood, but I had wanted it. It was my birthright, being the whatever great-granddaughter of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and Ezio Auditore da Firenze. “Your blood is not your own”, my cousin/uncle mentor, William Miles, would always tell me. I had to protect it. I don’t know exactly how Miles and I were related, just that we were both descendants of the same Bloodline. I had the Sight, of course. He...didn’t. Rumours were that his son, Desmond, might have inherited the ability, though he ran away from the Farm years ago. 

Anyway, since I was too young to go on _official_ missions, I was sent to live with my estranged father. Charlie was a nice man, quiet, to-the-point. I’d visited him every year until I was fourteen, when I was coming up onto the last few years of my training. When my training became too intensive, Charlie would come down to see me. We'd meet at a hotel or something, spend the week together before he'd go back up to Forks. 

However, I wasn't going to Forks for no reason. In fact, there were multiple reasons why I was going to Forks. Firstly, because Renee thought I should experience real teen life, as if there hadn't been other teens on the Farm with me. Secondly, she wanted me to practice fitting in with the general populous, how well I could maintain a cover. I had already come up with a few characteristics that I was going to mask for the next two years. And thirdly, I was asked to keep an eye on the mysterious "Cullen Clan". The family kept popping up every few decades or so. They were either descendants of the original Cullens' or they were in a cult. They had no obvious ties to Abstergo or the Order, but that didn't mean that it didn't exist. I had a dossier to read when I had settled into my room in Charlie's house. But, the Cullens' weren't my main concern. I was only to report on them if they were suspicious, and only interact with them if I had to. After all, Forks was a small town and I had a cover to keep. 

Charlie met me at the small airport in Port Angeles, in his police cruiser. Charlie always showed up blue in my Vision. A part of me was scared, frightened there would come a day he would turn gold, or worse, red. He was a cop, after all. And cops weren't always on the right side of justice. 

The drive down to Forks was long and wet. But I had long since said my goodbyes to the sun. The Farm was based north of the Bible Belt, but east of Tornado Alley. Relatively safe with a moderate climate, but the last place the Abstergo AKA the Order, would look for it. So, moving to a place that was under near constant cloud cover, where rainy days outnumbered sunny 2 to 1, would require a bit of an adjustment period. 

Once we had arrived at the house, I only just managed to hold back my surprise. It really hadn’t changed in the three years since I had been gone. I mean, it hadn’t changed in the thirteen years before that either, so I don’t know why I was so surprised. Going by the decor, he hadn’t changed a thing since Renee had up and left him when I was one year old. He so wasn’t over her, at all. It was evident in the faded yellow painted kitchen cabinets and bright, old, carpet that laid on the stairs. When I made it upstairs to my room, I was almost relieved that it looked almost exactly the same as how I had left it three years ago. Though, the single bed had been replaced with a double, which was nice. 

“The lady at the store picked out the bed covers,” Charlie said, helping me carry up my bags. “You like purple, right?”

I smiled gently at him. “Yeah, purple is good.” 

“Your mother just called; your car is being dropped around tomorrow. I was going to buy you a car, a sort of ‘welcome home’ present, but since you’ve already got that covered, I just transferred the money into your account. Going by the bags you brought, you don’t have enough clothes to last you.” 

I shrugged. “You didn’t have to do that! I have some money saved. And Illinois gets cold too, dad.” I had to remember to call him ‘dad’. He hates it when I call him ‘Charlie’ to his face. 

He surprised me by laughing. “It’s the least I could do for my own kid. Lord knows you don’t ask for much. And true, but I think you’ll find Forks winter is a bit harsher.” 

I grinned back. “I think Forks _summer_ is harsher. What do you do with all this rain?” 

“Ah, we manage. I’ll leave you to get settled. Oh, and that package with…’sentimental items’ is on your desk.”

“Thanks, dad.” I called, as he closed the door behind him. After a moment, I walked gingerly over to my desk, to not make the floorboards creak. I didn’t want Charlie knowing how eager I was to open the package. However, I didn’t keep the excitement completely controlled, as I ripped into the box, and pulled out the modified double hidden blade set. I could never get over how beautiful they were, now that they were officially mine. I’d had training sets before, ones that were for the Initiates. But I had helped forge these and were anointed with my blood. They were _mine_. Not something handed down from Assassin to Assassin. I did have some things that belonged to my ancestors. A pin that had belonged to Isabetta Auditore, from whom I was named after. She was the one who carried the Gene, that gave my bloodline the Sight, the Vision. Though my Bloodline hadn’t been Italian for a long time, Renee still held with some of their traditions. 

I was excited to prove to Renee that I could do this, that I could successfully blend into modern society and hold onto a cover. I had decided that I would be a timid, bookish, shy, clumsy teenage girl, who was obsessed with being ordinary. Though, I wasn’t sure my pride would allow me to keep average grades. Especially if I was going to be ‘bookish’. ‘Nerd’ was probably the term I was going for. I _did_ love to learn and succeed, but shy? Clumsy? Timid? That was the opposite of who I was, so that would be the hardest cover to keep. What? I liked the challenge. Maybe Renee would see it has me challenging myself, not as me attempting an impossible task. She would say I was too nosy, too much of a busy-body to pull this off. But I could do it! I know it!


	2. Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And tomorrow, first day of school. This chapter is just filling in a little more backstory for Bella.

I was beyond excited when I saw my car being dropped off. I could tell it surprised the hell out of Charlie when he saw it. I know, I was supposed to be creating this timid girl image, but I couldn’t move away and not take my beloved, fully restored, 1968 Ford Mustang GT500 “Eleanor” behind in Illinois, without me to take care of her. And who knew what those heathens at the Farm would do to her in my absence? Take her joy riding? Take her on _missions_? Nope, not on my watch. She was my baby, and I was going to protect her. With my life. 

“Wow, that’s a pretty sweet car, Bells. How much would that have cost you?”

“Oh, when I bought her, she was smashed to shit. Had to bash out all the dents and buff it all out. Had to replace the engine and a lot of the inner mechanics and tubing, the exhaust was shot. And don’t get me started on the gear box. And of course, the new paint job. I love shiny black, with the white stripes. I know, she doesn’t really fit in out here, but I couldn’t leave her behind with Renee, who knew what she and Phil would do with her?” I explained, running my hand gently over the door. 

Charlie’s eyes widened. “Y-you restored her? You didn’t buy her in this condition?” 

I shook my head. “Nah, Phil taught me how to fix up cars. Sort of a bonding exercise between the pair of us. I probably won’t do anything like this again. Maybe tinker with her now and then, do my own maintenance, but otherwise, it’s not one of my main passions.” 

“Oh, I see. Is it insured? I don’t know if you want to leave this in a high school parking lot.”

I thought about the near endless funds that the Brotherhood had, and how much money I sunk into keeping it insured. “Yeah, it’ll be fine. She’s insured, and Phil will help me fix her up if anything happens to her.” 

“Well, if you’re sure? Hey, with a car like that, you’re going to have to beat boys off with a stick. A car like that, flies and honey, Bells.” 

I laughed heartily. “Really, in this town? I doubt I’m that interesting, even with this car.”

Charlie smiled at me knowingly. “I think you’ll be surprised.” 

We ordered pizza that night, as grocery shopping had now been delegated to me, and there was nothing in the kitchen cupboards or the fridge. Renee was many things, but a cook wasn’t one of them. When we didn’t eat in the mess with the others on the Farm, I would cook for us. It was something I enjoyed doing, like meditation. Soothing. Helped me think. 

After I bid goodnight to Charlie, I headed upstairs to prepare for the school day the next day. The first thing I grabbed was the dossier on the Cullen family. 

From what had been gathered, the Cullen family moved to and from Forks every thirty to fifty years. They popped in and out of existence, I was surprised no one else had caught on yet. They seemed to be _extraordinarily_ rich, making megabucks from the stock market. Like, almost in the top 1%. However, as rich as they were, they seemed to be equally generous with the money they had. Everything pointed to them being extremely philanthropic. They donated food, money and other supplies to charities all over Washington. A lot to youth homelessness, scholarship funds, community projects and seemed to fight racism, particularly racism against First Nation peoples. However, despite how much they gave to the community at large, they had no friends or family, though there had been rumours of cousins living in Alaska, where the Cullens’ themselves had supposedly moved down from just two years before. 

However, they didn’t own stocks in Abstergo or in any related companies. They only donated to local charities, never big corporate charities. They avoided accepting awards or having their photos taken. Only their licences had actual photos on them, but they didn’t seem to be in many of the more common databases. No call-centre operators on their cellphones. 

So, an aloof family, rich. They always adopt children, seeming to name them after each other over and over again. The head of the family was always Carlisle. There were always five children, at least, this last seventy years. I was almost leaning towards ‘cult’ on this clan. I mean, who names their children after their parents, and then those children adopting more children and naming them after their aunts and uncles? It was weird. License photos in the US only went back to the 1950s, but some of those license pictures from the Mason family, the Hale family and the McCarthy family from the last sixty years were a little _too_ eerily similar. They looked like clones. Could they be clones? It was possible. The idea of immortality crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it. They’d need some serious tech from The-People-Who-Came-Before to manage that. Or an object of Eden. Though, I’d never heard of an object of Eden that could imitate immortality.

I put the dossier aside, putting it to the back of my mind. The Cullen family wasn’t why I was here in Forks. I was here to practice having a cover and to emulate real world teens. The Cullens’ were not integral to that goal. It was more like...an extra credit project. 

The forecast for tomorrow was, of course, rainfall. So I laid out clothing accordingly. I only had two rain jackets and one snow jacket. Maybe Charlie was right, and I needed to buy more winter wear. At least I had a couple of pairs of sturdy boots. And of course, some ceremonial Brotherhood robes and tactical gear. Both were in garment bags, tucked safely at the back of the wardrobe. I could probably get away with loading up on weapons at whatever sporting goods store was nearby. This seemed the sort of place I could buy a crossbow without anyone batting an eye. And I enjoyed hunting anyway. It was good practice. Animals had keener senses than humans, anyway. 

I had killed a human before, of course. It was part of how you graduated and earned the title of Assassin. For me, I was tasked with killing a drug dealer. He’d be found innocent from killing and raping a twelve-year-old girl, from a rival gang. He’d paid off the jury. One isn’t supposed to enjoy killing, and on an intellectual level, I _don’t_. But that was one life I didn’t mind taking. That was six months ago. 

Am I too intense? Maybe that’s why Renee sent me here, her hidden agenda. I think she feels guilty that I didn’t have a normal childhood, that her daughter had killed a grown man before she’d even reached adulthood. Here, at least I could pretend to be normal. I just wished that Renee knew that I didn’t want to be normal. I was happy being the teenage girl that could take down men almost four times my size. 

Whatever. I would just make the best of my time here in Forks and prove to Renee that I was ready for the life of an Assassin. I went to sleep that night feeling determined, ready to take on the day ahead.


	3. A Wolf Among the Sheep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bella's first day!

The next morning dawned bleak and cold. I hurried through my morning ablutions, and dressed just as quickly, not wanting to be undressed in the cold too long. Once I made it downstairs, I caught Charlie on his way out. 

“Hey, have a good day Bells, and good luck.” He cheered, before making his way out to his cruiser. I made a quick breakfast of just toast and juice. I grabbed my bag and my keys and steeled myself before heading out into the cold toward my baby. 

Being behind the steering wheel of my car calmed me and boosted my confidence. I could do this. I could go be the new girl at a new school, full of people who had probably known each other since they were in nappies. I’ve hunted and killed a grown man, I could deal with seventeen-year-old kids. I _could_. I turned the key, and the rumble of the engine made me grin, gods, I loved this car. 

The school itself wasn’t very difficult to find. It was just off the main highway and was marked by a large sign. The buildings themselves were mismatched and haphazardly placed, as if not much thought was put into their layout. I followed the signs to the admin building and parked into the wait zone. When I removed the key, I immediately missed the soothing rumble. With a deep breath, I stepped out of my car and headed into the head office. 

“Hello, I’m Isabella Swan,” I said, stepping up to the desk where an older middle-aged woman sat, her glasses perched precariously on the tip of her long nose. The lady’s blank resting face immediately transformed into a kind, welcoming expression, which made her look motherly and doting.

“Hello dear. The Chief has already done all your paperwork, all you have to do is get every teacher today to sign this slip, and if you could bring it back at the end of the day, that would be marvellous.” The receptionist, Mrs Cope according to her name tag, said. She had a slight southern twang to her accent, which was surprising this far north west.

I smiled politely back and accepted the slip and the map that Mrs Cope was offering me, pointedly ignoring the woman’s heavy stare. “Thank you, ma’am.” And with that, I left the office, stepping back out into the cold air, and headed directly to my car. I then drove my car over to the student designated carpark and perused the map I'd been given. It was simple enough to follow, the Farm had a more complicated layout than this school.

I debated waiting in my car or to leave the warm cab and head to my first class to wait. However, I already noticed some boys eying my car with interest, so with a sigh, I decided to get out and head to my class. I felt eyes on me the moment I stepped out, making me regret instantly the tight jeans I'd chosen to wear. I wish I'd worn something baggy, something that wouldn't catch the attention of horny teenage boys. But I dressed for me, like I always did, forgetting that this wasn't the Farm and these people didn't know me from Eve. I held a lot of my height in my legs, I loved that tight jeans could make them look like they stretched on forever. But this probably wasn't the right place to dress like that. Oh well, lesson learned for tomorrow. At least my raincoat was baggy over my sweater, hiding the curve of my hips and butt. The eyes on me made me want to disappear. As an assassin, I prided myself on being able to seem invisible, but now I felt like dirt on white marble, stark and noticeable. 

At least my car wasn't the nicest one here. There was a shiny Volvo parked a couple of rows up from mine. I already stuck out like a sore thumb as it was. I guess I could work the car mechanic hobby in as a quirky added piece of character to the persona I was building. Quiet, bookish, and shy; not-so-secretly fixes up old cars. Sure, that works. 

Keeping my head down, I headed straight for English class, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone. I resolved to not be so shy as to be anti-social. There was a line there, and I didn’t want to be on the wrong side of that line. English was with Mr Mason. The man himself was older, middle aged with a small beer belly and balding. However, his eyes crinkled in a friendly way, smile lines bold and prominent. He instantly put me at ease when he directed me to an empty seat at the back of the room. I had covered most of the reading list already during my time on the Farm. Education on the Farm was as important as the physical training, particularly literature and _correct_ history, alongside with the socially accepted record of history. The class passed easily enough.

The bell rang and I started collecting my things when a boy walked over to my desk. He was thin, with slicked-back black hair and kind of pimply. He seemed nice though, with a shy smile, who clearly belonged to the chess club or something. The kind of guy who would have gotten beaten up in Arizona.

“Hey, you’re Isabella Swan, right?” 

“Uh, just Bella. You are?” 

“Oh, I’m Eric, Eric Yorkie. I run the school newspaper.” 

“Nice to meet you,” I said with a smile. Either this guy was the biggest gossip in the school or all he reported on was the school swim team. 

“I hope we’re all making you feel welcome at Forks High, how are you enjoying classes so far?”

Hmm, this guy was surprisingly outgoing. Must be used to doing interviews. “Well, English was good. It’s only my first day and all.” 

“Cool, cool. Do you need help getting to your next class?” 

“Um, sure. I have Government with Jefferson in Building Six.” 

“Oh no worries, my next class is in Building Four. I can show you the way.” 

“Thank you.” I said with a shy smile, glancing down at my hands bashfully. Gotta play up the who shy thing. 

Eric chatted excitedly all the way to building six, about the school newspaper and about classes, all safe and neutral topics. I was somewhat grateful that he didn’t ask any deep and meaningful questions.

“So, you’re from Arizona? Bet Forks is a lot different.”

I smiled softly. “Definitely.” We had always told Charlie that we lived in Arizona. Just another layer of deception. I don’t think I’ve ever actually stepped foot in Phoenix, Arizona. It was easy to continue the lie. Renee and I had come up with a whole backstory. Couldn’t exactly advertise that I basically grew up in a cult and was raised to kill people. Because, as much as I loved the Brotherhood, it kind of was a cult.

Eric blushed faintly, which made me raise my eyebrows. “Uh, it doesn’t rain much there, does it?”

I shrugged. “Maybe about 4 or 5 times a year.”

“Wow, must be so sunny.”

“Yeah, the sun is pretty much a constant.”

“Then why aren’t you tan?”

I laughed at Eric’s bluntness, I found it rather refreshing. “I’m part albino… I’m just not really the outdoorsy type.” I replied. Ha, as if that was true. I fucking climb trees for fun, I free-run over roof tops for kicks. 

Eric nodded seriously, as if he agreed vehemently. I had to wonder if he realised I was joking about the albino bit. He led me straight to the door of building six.

“Well, here we are. Goodluck. Maybe we’ll have some other classes together.” He sounded painfully hopeful. I smiled gently at him before entering the class. I hoped all this attention would stop soon. Though, I had to look on the bright side, at least they weren’t glares.

Mr Jefferson’s eyebrows lifted when he read the name on the slip, giving me an up and down glance that made me feel a little uncomfortable, but also didn’t make me introduce myself. I was relieved when she sat down in her seat, glad to not have to make more small talk for the next hour until the walk to my next class. It seemed that almost everyone was here for this class, only one seat remained open, and it was all the way at the back of the room and quite secluded. Maybe I wouldn’t be the only hermit in the class.

Trigonometry wasn’t that far away, only in building five, but this time Mr Varner made me introduce myself, which kind of sucked. However, I used this as an opportunity to cement the idea I was a shy clutz by stammering over my words and tripping over my feet when I was directed to take a seat next to a short girl with wildly curly brown hair. She introduced herself as Jessica and talked a mile a minute, before Mr Varner told the class to settle down. When that class was over, Jessica picked up the conversation as if it had never stopped, leading the pair of them to Spanish class, which we also seemed to share. Jessica seemed to be able to speak Spanish as fast as she could speak English, which I found very impressive. When I told her so, Jessica blushed. 

“Thank you, my abuela taught me. It’s easy for me. I only took it because it would be an easy A. I really wanted to focus more on my other classes. One class to breeze through will really help my work/life balance.” And then she went off on another tangent that had me smiling at her amusedly. I could speak Spanish just as fluently as she could, well, maybe not. She seemed to grasp the language like only a native speaker could. I could speak a couple of other languages as well, Italian, French and a little German. Renee could speak even more than that. That was one thing I could really admire about my mother, she picked up languages like a fish to water. 

Jessica then led me to the cafeteria to a large table where all of Jessica’s friends were sitting. I memorised the names as they were spoken to me, as my training had ingrained into me. You never know when someone might suddenly become important to a mission. Now that I was in such a large group of people, other students from other tables felt more comfortable coming up to me and introducing themselves. Eric Yorkie waved to me from another table, to which I replied with my own wave somewhat more shyly. 

Just as I felt myself sinking into a discussion about the current English reading with one of the quieter girls, Angela, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I turned to look and saw a group of the most beautiful people I had ever seen sit down with full trays of food, at the other end of the room.


	4. The Mysterious Cullen Kids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ah, those weird fucking Cullens', at it again, minding their own business so suspiciously.

The Cullens. 

Somehow, they were even more beautiful than their licence photos. 

There were three boys and two girls. One of the boys, the dark haired one, was huge, very tall and bulky, as if he spent every waking moment not at school, in the gym. Emmett, my mind supplied helpfully. The next boy looked equally as tall, but slimmer, and his bulk was less “body builder” and more “recreational runner”. His hair was honey blonde and he was frowning, his face pinched as if he had a stomach ache or something. Jasper, I think. The last boy had dark bronze hair and looked younger than the other two boys, who almost looked more like college kids, or teacher’s aides. This last boy had more boyish features, though no less beautiful than the other two boys. His long fingers were picking apart a bagel, though he didn’t seem to be eating any of it. Must be Edward. 

The girls were polar opposite. The blonde girl was tall and statuesque, a 50’s pinup girl and a fashion model all rolled into one. Her golden curls fell gracefully down her back, she was literally the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Rosalie, Jasper’s twin. The other girl was just as beautiful, but in a manic-pixie-girl sort of way, thin in the extreme with almost boyishly short hair. Alice. She was resting her hand on the blonde boy, almost as if she was comforting him, even though they weren’t speaking or even looking at each other. 

Despite all their different hair colours and physical shape, they all looked somehow exactly the same. Their skin was chalky white and their eyes were all pitch black. They also all looked like they could use a good night's sleep, they each had dark circles under their eyes. And each of them were devastatingly beautiful. Almost inhumanly so. 

My fight or flight instincts were trying to kick in, but I didn’t understand why. What was it about them? Now I understood why I had ‘observe’ orders on the Cullens’. They weren’t...normal. Could they be related to The-People-Who-Came-Before? I activated my Eagle Vision, but it didn’t help much. They glowed gold, a non-killable target. People of interest. I tried to sound nonchalant when I turned to Jessica and asked, “Who are they?”

Suddenly, Edward looked at Jessica for a moment before his eyes flickered to mine. I looked away, turning my attention to Jessica, so he wouldn’t catch me staring again. In that brief glance that I caught, his face held no emotion, as if he had looked up involuntarily, as if I had called his name to him. ‘Odd’, I thought, ‘perhaps he can hear me?’

Jessica must have already guessed who I meant, because she had already begun speaking before she’d even fully turned to me. “They’re the Cullens’. Dr and Mrs Cullen’s foster kids.” She must have caught the look from Edward, as Jessica giggled with embarrassment and looked away like I did.

“That is Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The dark haired girl is Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his sister.” Jessica said all this under her breath.

Edward seemed to have finished picking apart his bagel. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect pale lips barely opening as he did so. The others were still looking away, but it appeared like he was indeed talking to them.

‘Unpopular names for such young people,’ I thought. ‘Those are names grandparents and great grandparents have. Have they really been named after their relatives, like the dossier suggested?’

“They’re very, er, nice looking.” I said, not knowing what else to say. 

“Yes!” Jessica agreed with yet another giggle.

‘Such a giggly girl, this one’, I thought, amusedly.

“They’re all together though. The buff one, Emmett and Rosalie, the blonde girl, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they _live_ together.” Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town, I mused somewhat critically.

“Funny, they don’t really look related.” I said softly, not really to Jessica, but she heard anyway.

“Oh, they’re not. Dr Cullen is really young, in his late twenties, early thirties. They’re all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins – the blondes- and they’re foster children.”

I raised an eyebrow. “They look a little old to be foster children,”

“They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they’ve been with Mrs Cullen since they were eight. She’s their aunt or something like that.”

“Huh,” I said. “That’s kind of nice of them, for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they’re so young and everything.”

Jessica shrugged. “I guess so,” I got the impression that Jessica didn’t like the doctor and his wife for some reason. I guessed jealousy, by the looks Jessica was throwing at them. “I don’t think that Ms Cullen can have biological children, though.” Jessica added, as if that made them less kind somehow. I withheld the urge to verbally bitch slap her for such a comment, but that would have been breaking my cover. This was a bitchy, small town, I had to remind myself. I can’t appear defensive of people I’ve never even met. That would be super suspicious. 

I continued my questioning, trying to keep it light and subtle, rather than head into an interrogation. “Have they always lived in Forks?” I already knew the answer to that question, but as just an ordinary teen, I _shouldn’t_. So the question still needed to be asked. 

“No,” Jessica said, her tone of voice implying that that should be obvious. “They moved down two years ago from Alaska somewhere.”

I nodded. This information matched what was in the dossier. I glanced back over to the Cullens’ and accidentally locked eyes with Edward, but this time, I noticed curiosity in his gaze. It felt like there was a certain expectation in his eyes, though I had no idea what it could be. 

Jessica noticed me watching Edward. “Yeah, he’s gorgeous, of course, but don’t waste your time on him. He doesn’t date. Apparently none of the girls, or boys, here are good-looking enough for him.” I chuckled internally, clearly a case of sour grapes. I wondered if he had turned her down.

Edward had since turned his face away, but his cheeks appeared lifted, as if he were smiling too. I frowned. Something one of his siblings said? But they didn’t appear to have moved. Could he really have heard what Jessica had said? Was his hearing really as good as a fully trained assassin? 

Alice suddenly rose, as gracefully as a ballerina, and dumped her full tray into the rubbish before practically dancing out of the cafeteria. The rest of the Cullens’ shortly followed suit, even Emmett, the big one, moved just as gracefully. It had me staring. I shook my head to clear it, and blushed, hoping no one had noticed me staring. I didn’t like to be stared at and I felt a little ashamed of being guilty of doing the exact same thing.


	5. Edward, Please Just  C H I L L  For a Second

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edwaaaard is a huuuuuge Douchebaaaaaag. But we already knew that. I hope you enjoyed this one.

I was actually really excited for Biology. It had been one of my favourite subjects, in a macabre kind of way. At first, I thought it would only be useful as a way to improve my skills in killing. But I slowly began to enjoy it for what it was, the study of _life_. Sure, it did help my assassination skills, but my fascination with how life existed grew the more I studied biology. 

So, I went into Biology with expectations. 

Of course, Mr Banner sent me to the one open seat, next to none other than Edward Cullen. As soon as I drew near to him, he seemed to seize up, his whole body stiffened. 

When I sat down, he had covered his nose partially, as if he smelt something terrible. Surreptitiously, I let my hair fall down over my shoulder and sniffed lightly. It just smelt like hair dye and my strawberry shampoo. I dyed my hair brown because I hated being blonde. I have nothing against blonde people, I just hate how it looks on me. And it clashes with my brown eyes. When I turned to look up at Cullen, his eyes, his coal black eyes, glared viciously at me. His expression promised violence of the extreme kind upon me. I was...confused to say the least. I wanted to confront him and demand to know what the fuck his problem was, but something inside me screamed ‘NO!” Which was weird, because I wasn’t someone who was easily intimidated. Surely, I would be able to kill this guy in a heartbeat. But my instincts had never lied to me before, and they were telling me that this guy was dangerous. He was still gold in my Vision, but I could easily see that turning to red if I didn’t watch my step. 

The period passed slowly, every time I glanced up at Cullen, his black glaring eyes bored into mine. I stared incredulously back every time. As much as my instincts were telling me to run fast, run hard, I couldn’t help why this insignificant boy had taken such an immediate and intense loathing towards me. All I had done was sit down next to him. But perhaps he was the kind of guy where that’s all it took. Maybe that’s why the Cullens’ were so isolated, they just had _breathtaking_ anger management issues. Though, Carlisle Cullen was a doctor, so he would have to have decent emotional control, not to mention being the father of five teenagers. 

So that begged the question, what the fuck was up with Edward Cullen?

The minute the bell rang, Cullen was up and out of his seat before anyone else even started getting their things together. What a dick. 

One of the boys that I had met during lunch approached me. He was a golden retriever in human form, with how he bounced with every step. His tail would be wagging if he had one.

“Hey, I’m Mike, Mike Newton.” Mike said, grinning from ear to ear. What was with all these boys introducing themselves like James Bond? He was a cute, baby-faced boy, his pale blonde hair carefully gelled into place, though a stray curl around his ear had escaped. He was smiling at me in a friendly, ‘I’m a nice jock’ kind of way.

“I’m Bella.” I said with a shy smile. 

“Do you need any help finding your next class?”

“I’m headed to the gym, actually. I think I can find it.” I said, not unkindly.

“That’s my next class too!” He said, seemingly thrilled by the possibility. I wasn’t that surprised. The school wasn’t that big, crossover was bound to happen.

They walked together to class. He was a chatterer and supplied most of the conversation, which was great. I was getting tired of repeating my backstory over and over again. Mike had lived in California till he was ten, so he knew what it was like to lose constant sunlight, but he still loved rain and snow. It turned out he was the nicest person I had met that day, he seemed not to have a hidden agenda, but I could be wrong. It has been my experience that kind faces are usually attached to liars. He was in my English class as well. However, the conversation was going well, until we were entering the gym.

“So, did you run into Edward Cullen earlier today and stab him, or something? He looked like he wanted to pick a fight with you or something.”

I cringed. I’d hoped no one had noticed. It wouldn’t do for another piece of gossip to start about me, at least gossip that I didn’t want. “Yeah, I have no idea. He didn’t say anything to me, not a word. I have no idea what was up with him.”

“Yeah, I mean, if I was lucky enough to have you as a lab partner, I would have at least talked to you.” 

I blushed slightly, definitely not used to a boy flirting with me, training aside. “Oh, well, I dunno. Maybe he was just having a bad day.” 

Mike shrugged. “Cullen is weird. They all are.” 

I decided not to respond to that, it would be weird of me to stand up for someone I didn’t know. I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. We parted ways, as Coach Clapp gave me a uniform to wear, which I was grateful for. I didn’t want to get my regular clothes all sweaty. As much as I _loved_ exercising, in the persona of Bella, I had to be clumsy. So no excelling at physical activity for me. I played like someone who had never even _seen_ a volleyball. I tripped over my own feet and hit the ball in wrong directions, even once accidentally hitting one of my teammates, to which I apologised profusely. The other students quickly learned not to involve me at all in the game. Which was good, because it solidified my wanted image of a clutz, but bad because I’d have to somehow fit in an extra workout in my own time. 

After changing and attempting to avoid my new retriever friend, I fled the gym as fast as I could and headed to the head office. When I stepped inside, I almost turned back around immediately.

Edward Cullen stood at the desk in front of me. He didn’t appear to notice the sound of my entrance. I stood pressed against the back wall of the small room, waiting for the receptionist to be free and for Edward to leave.

He appeared to be arguing with Ms Cope in a low, attractive voice. I quickly picked up the gist of the argument. He was trying to trade sixth period Biology to another time, any other time. Surely, he couldn’t be trying to change the class because of _me_?

The door opened again, and cold wind suddenly gusted around the room, rustling all the papers littered around the room. The girl who came in merely steeped to the desk, placed a note in the wire basket, and then walked back out. But Edward Cullen’s back stiffened, and he slowly turned to glare at me.

“Shit,” I said under my breath, but by Edward’s raised eyebrow, I could tell he’d heard me.

I smiled weakly at him, which made Edward’s glare deepen. He turned back to the receptionist. “Never mind then,” He said hastily in a voice like velvet. “I can see that it’s impossible. Thank you so much for your help.” Then he turned on his heel, with one last glare my way, and strode out the door.

I took a deep breath and walked to the desk, placing my signed slip on the desk.

“How did your first day go, dear?” Mrs Cope asked maternally.

I smiled gently at her. “Not too bad, I think I made some friends.” Definitely not amongst the Cullens’ though. 

Mrs Cope grinned at me. “There you go, dear.”

I walked back out of the office and leaned against the outside wall, taking a deep breath to collect myself. Looking out, I saw the Cullens' entering the shiny Volvo. Why didn’t that surprise me? I rolled her eyes and walked towards my car as they drove away. 

I headed to my own car, bypassing the crowd of excited boys who surrounded it and slid into the front seat. They gave me and the car admiring looks as I started the engine and pulled out of the spot. Double checking that I had money in my purse, I headed for the supermarket just off the expressway.

I liked supermarkets. Mostly the weird dystopian vibe that they gave off. When you went far enough inside, it was like time stopped moving. You could be anywhere in the world, inside any major supermarket. I liked to imagine going into a Wall-Mart here in Forks and then walking out in Florida or something. They were like portals or liminal spaces. They fed into my more macabre outlook of life. A weird enjoyment of thinking odd things. This is probably why I didn’t have that many friends, even among other Assassins. I laughed at my own expense, out loud, drawing odd looks from other shoppers. Maybe Renee did know what she was doing, sending me here to learn not to be so fucking weird.

Getting home, I decided to make Mexican chicken, which was simple enough. Luckily, I wasn’t as _experimental_ of a cook like Renee. Most, if not all, of my food came out edible, unlike Renee. It seemed like Charlie wasn’t much of a cook either, so that would be yet another chore that I would be picking up. Not that I minded, of course. I was happy to do things. I was grateful that Charlie had taken me in, so I didn’t mind doing the household chores. 

Charlie was a little bit suspicious when he smelt all the spices when he came home, but I assured him that I was nothing like Renee in the kitchen. He was brave enough to take the first bite when it was served and found himself enjoying it quite a lot. He most likely didn’t have access to good Mexican food this far north, the closest edible Mexican food would probably be in San Francisco. Not to say I thought my Mexican style food was as good as, say, Jessica’s abuela’s would have been, but it wasn’t half bad. 

“Ah, you’re spoiling me Bells. I haven’t eaten this good since Grandma Swan was around.” 

I smiled. “It is the least I could do. I mean, after you letting me stay here and everything.” 

“Of course you can stay here. You’re my daughter. It’s no skin off my nose ‘letting’ you live here.” Charlie said, pulling me into a brief one-armed hug. “Well, enough of that. Let’s eat!” 

When we were well into our meal, before conversation started.

“So, how did your first day go? Have you made any friends?” He asked, putting some more vegetables on his plate.

“I have a few classes with Jessica, I sit with her friends at lunch. Also, there’s this boy Mike, who’s very friendly. Everybody seems pretty nice.” I replied.

“That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid, nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off all the backpackers who come through here.”

I chose to change gears, to ask Charlie what I wanted to know about a certain family. “Do you know the Cullen family?” I asked hesitantly.

“Dr Cullen’s family? Sure. Dr Cullen’s a great man.”

I took a chance. “They … the kids, that is … are a little different. They don’t seem to fit in very well at school.”

Charlie surprised me by looking angry.

“People in this town,” He muttered. “Dr Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here,” he continued, getting increasingly louder. “We’re lucky to have him, lucky that his sister wanted to live in a small town. He’s an asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems with them, but they’re all very mature. I haven’t had a speck of trouble with them. That’s more than I can say for the children of some of the folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together, like a family should, camping trips every other weekend. Just because they’re newcomers, people have to talk.”

I was stunned. It was the longest speech I had ever heard Charlie make. He must feel strongly about whatever people must be saying.

Quickly backpedalling, I said “They seemed nice enough to me. I just noticed that they kept to themselves. They’re all very … attractive.”

Charlie laughed. “You should see the doctor. A lot of the staff at the hospital have a hard time concentrating with him around, not to mention his sister's looks. She is a big distraction every time she heads into the hardware store.”

We were silent for a bit longer. “Wait, his sister? I thought they were married."

Charlie shook his head. "Yes, a lot people make that mistake. She's his sister-in-law. Mrs Cullen was married to Dr Cullen's brother. When he passed, Mrs Cullen was left with five young kids, so Dr Cullen moved in to help raise them. Even though he's their uncle, the kids consider him to be their father."

I nodded my understanding. It was an odd situation, but I get why people made the mistake. "I wonder why people would say mean things about them. I mean, they keep to themselves, sure, but they haven’t done anything to deserve it. At least, I don’t think so.” I mused out loud. 

Charlie sighed. “It’s small-town politics, I’m afraid Bella. They’re new and different, doesn’t matter if they’re nice and upstanding people. They don’t fit the mould, so people knit-pick and play nasty games.”

“Hmm,” I murmured. “Well, I hope I fit in well then.” I tried to joke. 

“Yeah, Bells, for sure. You’re my daughter after all. Besides, if people start saying nasty things, for whatever reason, just ignore them. This may be a small town, and I know one has to expect a certain amount of talk, but that’s all it is, talk.” Charlie said 

I smiled warmly. “Thanks dad.” 

“No worries, Bells.” 

Charlie said he would do the dishes, only fair as I had cooked the meal, before I headed upstairs to complete my homework. I was surprisingly exhausted after my day, so I resolved to go to bed and get up very early and do my workout and focus some on my training. I fell asleep pondering Charlie's words about the Cullens'.


	6. Knives Out, Bitches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter that is literally just Bella flirting her way into getting weapons.

I groaned for an inhumanly long time when my alarm went off at 4:30am. My body had already fallen out of its hard-worn sleep schedule. I forced my limbs to cooperate and pulled my carcass out of my bed and to my feet. Stripping out of my sleep clothes and into my workout gear, I started with 40 push-ups, each set of 20 I did with one arm behind my back. I then worked with weights to strengthen my arms. I then strapped weights to my ankles and stretched before going on a five mile run, starting slowly and progressively picking up speed. 

By the time I got back from my run, it was 5:45 and I heard Charlie stirring as I made it back inside the house. I crept through the house as silently as I could, and out the backdoor into the yard. There, I did twenty minutes of Tai Chi and then a half hour of hand-to-hand combat practice. Then I did my warm down exercises. By then, Charlie was gone and it was 6:45, so I went back inside to shower. The hot water did wonders to relax my body. I felt really good, having exercised, after not having done any for four days. I dried and dressed quickly before heading down to make myself breakfast. As the clock ticked closer to 7:30am, I sighed and steeled myself for the staring again today. Hopefully it wouldn’t be as bad as yesterday, where all the eyes on me made me feel jumpy. 

That day was better. And worse. Better because I had found my groove, surprisingly quickly. People still stared, but not as much, and I felt more comfortable jumping into conversation here and there. It was always hard to break into a friend-group that has known each other for literally more than a decade. Worse, because Edward Cullen wasn’t there, and I had the sinking feeling it was because of me. It was a ridiculous and self-absorbed way to think, but I couldn’t help but remember Edward’s hateful black eyes, his fury, how it was directed straight at me. So yes, school was easier that day, except now the Cullens’ seemed to be taking turns staring at me. It seemed to lend credence to my “Edward isn’t here because of me” theory.

The next day was much the same, still no Edward. It was coming up to the weekend, and Edward still hadn’t returned to school. Maybe he dropped out? No, that’s silly. If that were true, it would have spread through the school like wildfire. Maybe he was sick, and that was why he was so moody that first day. Everyone gets cranky when they’re feeling sick.

The weekend too flew by. The whole _week_ flew by. While Charlie was gone, working the weekend, since he was so used to being on his own. I did all the housework and other chores around the house and finished off my homework. I filled in a report on my first week here in Forks and sent it off to Renee. After doing maintenance on my hidden blades, I decided that my weapons cache was indeed dismal, so I got in my car and drove to the sporting store that Charlie mentioned at the start of the week, the one that Mike’s family owned. 

I ignored everyone as I walked into the store. I didn't want their judgement. I guess that's my fault, for driving such a flashy car. Ah well, lesson learned for next time I'm under cover, travel more incognito. I stepped into the store and immediately had to withhold my sniggers. It was a god-damn redneck paradise. Camo and flannel as far as the eye could see. I immediately went to the hunting section. I already had the perfect lie in place in case anyone - 

"Hey, Bella!" a voice called. 

I turned to see Mike, wearing a fluoro vest, practically skip up to me. Damn, how can I spin this and still keep my 'clutz' identity intact? My lie was intended for people who _didn't_ know who I was. I plastered on a smile. "Hey Mike, what's up?" 

He tugged his vest, intending to draw my eye. "Ah you know, doing a couple of shifts, to help my parents out. What are you doing here?" 

I shrugged, but decided to play it flatteringly. "Looking for you, actually. Charlie wants to take me hunting. I've been before once or twice with my step-dad, but Charlie wants me to get my own gear for it, and I have no idea where to start. Dad mentioned that your family owned the sports store, so who better to ask than you?" 

Mike blushed bright red, it reached the tips of his ears. "U-uh, and your dad couldn't come with you to help you shop?" 

I shook my head. "Well, he works so hard, you know, being the Chief of Police. I thought it was something I could do to take the weight off his shoulders. One less thing to worry about, you know?" I smiled bashfully, almost coy, earning another blush from Mike. Internally, I rolled my eyes. Boys, honestly. All it takes is for me to flutter my eyelashes and they'll believe anything I say. I almost pitied him. 

"Ah well, I'm not the hunting expert, but my dad is. I'll call him over and he'll help you get all the gear you need for that, as far as bows and such. You're too young to get a gun of your own, without a parent or guardian to be there when it's purchased." Mike explained, switching into customer service mode. 

I smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you for all your help, seriously Mike. I really appreciate it."

He blushed and looked down at his hands. "Just doing my job." Mike asked me to wait before going over to a phone attached to the wall. 

A few moments, a middle aged man walked over, the spitting image of Mike, though his hair was a little thin. "Thanks for the call Mike. Your mom needs help in the office."

"Sure dad," Mike said. He turned to me. "See you at school on Monday."

"See you then," I said with a smile and a wave. 

"So, what can I help you with today?" Mr Newton asked congenially. 

My tone became serious as I turned to Mr Newton. "I'm looking for a compact size crossbow, a compound bow, bolts for each, bolt holders, archers gloves and braces. I also need a couple of hunting knives, bowies or kukri if you have them. Also, climbing gloves and ropes, for tree climbing. I like to hunt from a decent height in the trees."

Mr Newton's eyes widened with every request I made, though he tried to hide it. "I assume you've been hunting before?" 

I nodded. "Yes, with my step-father. I always used his gear and Charlie wants to go hunting with me, so I need my own gear now."

Mr Newton nodded, his surprise lessening. "You've hunted with bows before, yes?" 

I nodded. "Yes, I prefer them to guns anyway. Guns are too noisy and buckshot is too messy."

"Yes, I agree. When I do hunt, I prefer crossbows as well."

Mr Newton showed me a lot of options, and I picked out the ones that were correct for my needs. He didn't have to know I didn't just plan on using them on deer and other game. Not that I was expecting to have any contracts while I was here in Washington, but practice makes perfect. I also picked out some hunting jackets and other supplies for being out in the woods and of course, a selection of knives. By the time I left the store, I had two big boxes with my chosen bows and bag full of knives. It wasn’t anything like my arsenal I had on the Farm, but it was a start. I drove home as fast as the speed limit would allow, and tucked my new weapons under my bed. 

Of course, I was never really weaponless. I was always wearing my hidden blades. Except during gym. Another reason to hate that class. I hated feeling vulnerable, without a way to defend myself. But that was irrational as well, since I was never really without weapons. I could fight, beat someone to death with my bare hands if I had to. I just felt more...secure when I had the leather strapped around my wrists. Sitting on the end of my bed, I pulled my sleeves back and flicked by wrists, pushing my hands out. Almost instantaneously, the blades shot out, light gleaming off the shiny metal. I took a deep breath and retracted the blades. 

A large grin spread across my face.


	7. Ah, the Ice-Man Speaks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a really long chapter, compared to the others. But I hope you enjoy it!

Monday started pretty normally, as far as Mondays go. I got up early as usual, to do my workout. It did feel colder that day, which was irritating, but it was still January after all. Coldness was to be expected. At least it wasn’t raining.

People waved to me in the carpark and I waved back, albeit a little more reserved than them. 

Mike had taken to sitting next to me in English and was being to become more friendly than before, if that was even possible. When we walked out of class, the air was full of swirling bits of white. I could hear people chattering excitedly to each other. The wind bit at my cheeks, my nose.

“Wow,” Mike said. “It’s snowing.”

I looked at the little cotton fluffs that were building up along the sidewalk and swirling erratically past my face. I tried to look awed, but having grown up in Illinois and not Arizona, snow wasn’t exactly new to me.

“It’s so pretty.” I tried to push as much enthusiasm into my voice as I could. I tried to bring up memories of snow fights from my childhood with the other Initiates and put that happiness into my tone. 

Going by Mike’s grin, he bought the lie. “You wouldn’t get much snow would you, down in Arizona?”

I shook my head. “No, not at all.”

“Haven’t you ever seen snow fall before?”

“Of course I have,” I paused. “On TV.” 

Mike laughed. And then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of his head. We both turned to see where it came from. I had my suspicions about Eric, who was walking away, his back turned towards us and heading in the wrong direction for his next class. Mike apparently had the same notion, as he bent down and began scraping together a pile of white mush. 

“I’ll see you at lunch, okay?” I kept walking as I spoke. “Once people start throwing stuff, I go inside.” 

He just nodded, his eyes on Eric’s retreating figure. 

Throughout the morning, everyone chattered excitedly about the snow; apparently it was the first snowfall of the new year. I kept my mouth shut. The girl who was supposedly from Arizona shouldn’t be sharing stories of her fun times in the snow.

Mush balls were flying everywhere as Jessica and I made our way to the cafeteria. I kept my binder in my hands, ready to use it as a shield if necessary. Jessica thought I was hilarious, but something in my expression must have kept her from lobbing one at me herself. She had no idea how much I wanted to join in, but that would be out of character for my cover. Mike caught up to us as we walked in the doors, laughing, with ice melting the gel in his hair. A curl had already sprung free. He and Jessica were talking animatedly about the snow fight as we got in line to buy food. I glanced toward the Cullen table out of habit, while I cased the rest of the room. I couldn’t help but check the room for threats. And then I froze where I stood. There were five people at the table, for the first time in a week.

Jessica pulled on my arm. 

“Hello? Bella? What do you want?”

I looked down and collected myself. My fight or flight instincts were fighting to kick in the moment I saw Edward Cullen. 

“What’s with Bella?” Mike asked Jessica. 

“Nothing,” I answered, regaining my calm. “I’ll just get a Sprite today.” I caught up at the end of the line. 

“Aren’t you hungry?” Jessica asked. 

“Actually, I feel a little sick.” I said, my eyes on the floor. Fuck, I hated this, the instinctual fear that Edward inspired within me. I felt absolutely ridiculous. I waited for them to get their food, and then followed them to a table, my eyes on my feet. 

I sipped my Sprite slowly, my stomach churning. Twice Mike asked, with unnecessary concern, how I was feeling. 

I told him it was nothing. I tried not to let on how much I wanted to scream, my assassin senses were going OFF. Ugh, I felt stupid even thinking that, like I’m fucking Spiderman with his fucking Spidey Senses. I glanced over at the Cullens’ again. They were laughing. Edward, Jasper and Emmett had their hair entirely saturated with melting snow. Alice and Rosalie were leaning away as Emmett shook his dripping hair towards them. They were enjoying the snowy day, just like everyone else. Only they looked more like a scene from a movie than the rest of us. 

But aside from the laughter and playfulness, there was something different, and I couldn’t quite pinpoint what that difference was. I examined Edward the most carefully. His skin was less pale, the circles under his eyes were much less noticeable. 

“Bella, what are you staring at?” Jessica intruded, her eyes following my stare, 

At that precise moment, Edward’s eyes flashed over to meet mine. I dropped my head, letting my hair fall to conceal my face. I was sure, in that instance, that he didn’t look harsh or unfriendly as he had last time. He looked merely curious again, unsatisfied in some way.

I turned to Jessica and laughed lightly. “Oh, I was just surprised to see the Cullens’ acting like human beings for once, not just sitting around like statues.” 

Jessica giggled and looked over to the Cullens’ herself. “Edward Cullen is staring at you.” She whispered in my ear. 

I smirked, already feeling the tension release from my body. “He doesn’t look angry, does he?” I couldn’t help but ask. If he could really hear us, like I suspected last Monday, I hope he felt fucking guity about how he treated me. 

“No,” she said, sounding confused by my question. “Should he be?”

“I don’t think he likes me very much,” I confided, playing the part of a meek schoolgirl. 

“The Cullens’ don’t like anybody...well, they don’t notice anybody enough to like them. But he’s still staring at you.” 

I rolled my eyes, feeling my cover slipping. “Maybe I’ve got something stuck in my teeth.” I said sarcastically. The comment startled a surprised laugh out of Jessica. 

Mike interrupted us then. He was planning an epic battle of the blizzard in the parking lot after school and wanted us to join. Jessica agreed enthusiastically. The way she looked at Mike, made me think there wasn’t much Jessica wouldn’t do if Mike asked her. I kept silent. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to join in, but I didn’t want to make Mike think I...wanted him in anyway. I was afraid I had led him on when I was trying to buy weapons. 

I didn’t want to walk to class with Mike, he seemed to be a hot target for snowball snipers. But when we got to the door, everyone, besides me, groaned in unison. It was raining, washing away all traces of snow, leaving only frigidly cold rain. I put my hood up, secretly pleased. I would be free to go home straight after gym. I needed to work on my aim with the new bows. And I loved pulling my hood up. Yeah, it was a little immature, but I felt more like a real assassin when I pulled it up.

Mike complained the whole way to Biology. Once inside the classroom, I saw that my lab table was empty. I had seen Cullen at lunch. Was he ditching, or was he just tardy? Mr Banner was walking around the room, distributing one microscope and a box of slides to each table. Class didn’t start for a few more minutes and the room buzzed with conversation. 

I was doodling the Brotherhood symbol in my notebook when I very clearly heard when the chair beside me pulled out, but my eyes stayed trained to the lines of the letter A. 

“Hello,” said a quiet, musical voice. 

I looked up, stunned that he was actually talking to me. He was sitting as far away from me as the desk would allow, but his chair was angled toward me. His hair was dripping wet, dishevelled. Even so, he looked like he’d just finished shooting a commercial for hair gel or something. His inhumanly dazzling face was friendly, open, a slight smile on his flawless lips. But his eyes were careful. 

“My name is Edward Cullen,” He continued. “I didn’t have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan.” 

I raised an eyebrow, my cover slipping just a little bit. This turn-about feeling a little bit sudden and maybe a _lot_ bullshit. “How did you know my name?” 

He laughed a soft, enchanting laugh. “Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town’s been waiting for you to arrive.”

I rolled my eyes. “No, I mean, why did you call me ‘Bella’? We’ve never been introduced.” 

He seemed confused. “Do you prefer Isabella?” 

Gods, is he stupid? “No, I like Bella. How did you know to call me _Bella_ , if Charlie has been referring to me as _Isabella_ to the whole town?” 

He blinked. “Oh, I must have just overheard someone call you Bella.” 

I raised a skeptical eyebrow at him, but I let it drop. There was just something _odd_ about the Cullens’. And not just their ethereal beauty. 

“So, have you been enjoying living in Forks?” 

“Oh, yes, it has been lovely.” Even to me, that sounded half-hearted. 

“You don’t sound so sure about that.”

“No, it has been nice, living here with Charlie.” 

“But you’d rather be in Arizona?” Edward asked, prying a little. 

“Yes and no.” 

“Then why did you come to Forks, if you’re so uncertain about it?” The question wasn’t unkind, Edward asked it patiently, as if he genuinely wanted to know, without any malicious intent. 

“Well, my mother got remarried.” Which was true. Phil was a fellow assassin and Renee fell hard for him. Someone who could truly understand her, in ways Charlie never could.

“Ah, and she sent you away? You don’t like the guy?” His tone continued to be sympathetic. 

“No, Phil is great. He’s really good for Renee. And I sent myself.” 

“Why would you send yourself somewhere you don’t want to be?” 

“You certainly ask a lot of questions.”

“That’s what you do when you want to get to know somebody, right?” 

I scoffed. “People usually don’t want honest answers. They want me to say I was dying to come to Forks and that I hate my stepfather. But I think you want honest ones.” 

“I would prefer honesty, yes.” 

“Look, Phil is a minor league baseball player. You probably haven’t heard of him. But he moves around a lot to play. Renee stayed with me for a while, but I could tell she really missed him, so I decided to go spend some time with Charlie. Does that answer your question?” 

“But now you’re unhappy.” 

I didn’t answer. Was I unhappy? I’m not _un_ happy, I decided. I was determined. Determined to prove to Renee that I could do this, be an ordinary teenager and fit right in.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” 

Suddenly irritated, I snapped back, “What does it matter to you?” Why does he want to pick apart my perfectly crafted backstory anyway?

“Good question.” Edward replied softly, as if he hadn’t really meant for me to hear it. 

I rolled my eyes, I didn’t have the energy to figure out his little cryptic remarks.

Thankfully, Mr Banner started class at that moment. I tried to concentrate as he explained the lab we would be doing today. The slides in the box were out of order. Working as lab partners, we had to separate the slides of onion root tip cells into the correct phases of mitosis they represented and label them accordingly. We weren’t supposed to use our books. In twenty minutes, Mr Banner would be coming around to see who had it right. 

“Get started,” he commanded. 

“Ladies first, partner?” Edward asked. I looked up to see him smiling crookedly.

I smiled as shyly as I could. “Sure.” I was showing off just a little. I’d already done this lab, and I knew what I was looking for. It should be easy. I snapped the first slide into place under the microscope and adjusted it quickly to the 40X objective. I studied it briefly. 

My assessment was confident. “Prophase.” 

“Do you mind if I look?” He asked as I began to remove the slide. His hand caught mine, to stop me, as he asked. His fingers were ice cold, like he’d been holding them in a snowdrift before class. I forced myself not to react and I gently moved my hand away. He seemed to pretend it hadn’t happened at all. He looked in the microscope for an even shorter time than I had. 

“Prophase.” He agreed, writing it neatly in the first space on our worksheet. He swiftly switched out the first slide for the second, and then glanced at it cursorily. 

I nodded, believing him. “Slide three?” I held out my hand without looking at him. He handed it to me; it seemed like he was being careful not to touch my skin again.

I looked in briefly. “Interphase.” I passed him the microscope before he could ask for it. He took a swift peek, and then wrote it down. I would have written it while he looked, but his clear, elegant script intimidated me. I didn’t want to spoil the page with my clumsy scrawl. No matter how the instructors at the Farm had try to teach me, my handwriting just refused to be aesthetically pleasing.

We were finished before anyone else was close. I could see Mike and his partner comparing two slides again and again, and another group had their book open under the table. I withheld a sigh of boredom. I wasn’t really interested in getting to know Edward, not while I was still salty at him about how he treated me last week. This sudden turn about felt really fake, since Edward hadn’t even apologised. 

I glanced up at him and frowned, his eyes… they were gold. I vividly remembered the flat black colour of his eyes the last time he’d glared at me. The colour had been striking against the background of his pale skin and his auburn hair. Today, his eyes were a completely different colour. A strange ochre, darker than butterscotch, but with that same golden tone. I wanted to bring it up, and I think Edward noticed my suspicions, because his hands were clenched into hard fists. Mr Banner came to our table then, to see why we weren’t working. He looked over our shoulders to glance at the completed lab, and then stared more intently to check the answers. 

“So, Edward, didn’t you think Isabella should get a chance with the microscope?” Mr Banner asked. 

“Bella,” Edward corrected automatically. “Actually, she identified three of the five.” 

Mr Banner looked at me now; his expression was skeptical. “Have you done this lab before.” 

I raised an eyebrow at his almost insulting tone. “Not with onion root, with whitefish blastula.

Mr Banner nodded. “Were you in an advanced program in Phoenix?”

“Yes.” I said curtly. 

“Well,” he said after a moment. “I guess it’s good you two are lab partners.” He mumbled something else, but I had already gone back to doodling the symbol that was branded on my right ring finger. 

“It’s too bad about the snow, isn’t it?” Edward asked. I had the feeling that he was forcing himself to make small talk with me. Ugh. Trying to make up for last week or for his prying just now? That didn’t bring up red flags at all(!)

I shrugged. “I don’t really care either way.” 

“Well, being from Arizona, I would have thought this would have been quite the climate shift for you.” 

“Yes, but I’ve been to Forks before this. It’s not that surprising to me.” 

“You’re awfully indifferent about quite a lot, aren’t you?”

I laughed sardonically. “You’re one to talk. You and your family keep to yourselves, avoiding the rest of the community. How does that make you any different?”

He abruptly changed the subject. “So, you’ve moved to Forks, away from your mother. What are your future plans? College?” Edward asked.

“Uh, I want to be a medical examiner when I finish school.” Pulled that one out of my ass. But, being an Assassin, I guess they could somewhat go hand in hand. 

Edward blinked. “A medical examiner?” 

“Yeah, you know, studies dead people, tries to figure out how they died. That sort of thing. And/or pathology. What?” I asked, feeling irrationally defensive, at Edward’s surprised expression. 

“It’s just not an answer that I expected.”

“Ha, I suppose you thought I’d be a literature major or business. Something normal like that.” 

“Well, yeah. You don’t really come across as the ‘looks at dead things’ kind of person.” 

“Then you don’t know me very well.” I replied, promptly. Ha, ain’t that the truth? No one in Forks knew who I really was. And I wanted to keep it that way.

“But why a medical examiner? Why not a surgeon or a general practitioner?” 

“It’s just more interesting to me. Trying to keep people alive is too much pressure for me, but finding out why they died, how they lived. It’s much more fascinating to me.” I replied, thinking about the people I would be killing in the future, studying their motives that led to their deaths.

Edward chuckled softly. “So naive.” 

I frowned at him. “Naive?” Ugh, does he have to criticise everything I say?

“People are killed in gruesome ways, for millennia. Women, men, children. Do you really think you could take it? Seeing these people and what terrible things happened to them?” 

I rolled my eyes. “I’m made of tougher stuff than that, Cullen. I get that humans are capable of horrific things. You’re not pulling the wool from my eyes; I am well aware of what a human can do to another person.” What _I_ have done to another person.

Edward raised an eyebrow at me, surprised. “I apologise.” 

I shrugged. “I’m used to people underestimating me. It’s how I get under the radar.” Probably the first whole truth I’ve actually said to him.

Edward smirked. “And who’s radar are you trying to get under?” 

“Everyone. They don’t have to know my business.” 

“That’ll be a hard feat for you. This is a small town, after all. People are going to find out your business eventually.” 

“I don’t know, your family seems to handle it pretty well. No one seems to know anything about you guys.” 

Edward laughed without humour. “Yeah, sure. Have you heard the rumours about us? How scandalous we all are?” 

“Yeah, but that’s all they have. Rumours. Do they actually know anything important about you?” 

Edward sighed. “We try to keep to ourselves. We don’t really fit in.” 

“And you don’t try to either. Not that I think fitting in is all that important.” Ha! “But you can’t blame everyone for thinking you’re mysterious and making up rumours if you don’t let people know who you really are.” Ah, the hypocrisy of _that_ statement almost overwhelmed me. 

Edward stared at me. “You seem to be quite knowledgeable on the subject.”

“Well, when you first met me, what assumptions did you have?” This could be a good learning experience, figure out what an outsider thinks of my cover.

“Quiet, bookish. Probably reads more books than she talks to people. Keeps her opinions to herself.” Good, it’s working well then.

“And what about now?”

“Hmm, still all that first stuff, but also a bit weird, fascinated with death... and life. Wise.” 

I blushed at the 'wise' comment, much to my chagrin. “You see? All I’ve gathered from you is that you keep to yourself, yet you’re nosy about me. In this whole conversation, I’ve gleaned nothing from you. You _seem_ kind, patient, but I don’t know if that’s what you’re really like or if you’re just acting that way to get information from me. As far as I know, you don’t talk to people unless you have to, why are you talking to me?” I thought trying to bring up his behaviour from last Monday would just force him to clam up.

Edward sighed. “I don’t know. I suppose because you’re an outsider, like me. You don’t seem to fit in perfectly either. I guess I sense a kindred spirit in you.” 

And then the bell rang.


	8. Stop, Drop and Roll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, okay, okay. I decided last minute to make this a Belisle fic. Please don't hate me, and enjoy this chapter.

I pondered Edward’s words during gym. I had plenty of time, since no one involved me in the sport anymore. I just sort of stood there uselessly while volleyball happened around me. I wondered what he had meant, how he could have apparently changed his opinion of me so quickly, compared to last Monday, when he couldn’t stand the sight of me. What had prompted his behaviour then, what prompted his behaviour now? Edward Cullen was confusing to me, his motives hard to discern. Normally, I didn’t have much trouble figuring people out. But Edward was...different. He was unlike anyone I had ever met, regardless of his appearance, and it unsettled me. I didn’t like this impossible variable, whose behaviour and actions and intent did not seem to synchronise. But I couldn’t exactly confront him on it either, because he had technically not done anything wrong. And that fear...instinctual fear that I felt in my very bones, when I thought about confronting him prior to Biology was equally unsettling. The cognitive dissonance I felt, when intellectually I knew he wouldn’t do anything to me, but my baser, animal instincts registered him as _wrong_. 

It helped me that I didn’t see Edward and his family when I entered my car and left the car park. I wasn’t sure what I would have done if I saw him. All I knew was that he created a frustrated pit in my stomach, an anxiety that wouldn’t shift. The inhumanness of him made me suspicious from the beginning, but his actions and the words he chose to use set me on edge. Like a predator stalking its prey. But what predator wanted to know its prey’s life story? 

Why did he want to know more about me, when the Cullens’ in general never showed interest in anyone before? Could he know what I am? Or at least suspect? But how could he? I’d been so careful to keep my cover in place, to not give any details about my true life, and only talk about my fabricated past. There was no way he could know. But there was still _something_ about Edward Cullen, about all the Cullens’, that just didn’t add up. 

I was still subdued as I prepared dinner, and ate in silence with Charlie. I murmured my good night and retired to bed early, where I tossed and turned and slept brokenly. When I awoke fully the next morning, when I glanced out the window, everything was covered in a fine layer of snow. After a quick shower, I changed into my warmest clothes and put on my snow boots. When I reached the kitchen, Charlie was already gone. Still feeling unsettled from the previous day, I opted to just have a glass of juice before heading out to my car. 

Despite the black ice that covered the road, my drive to school was unusually smooth, even with me driving more cautiously than I normally would. When I stepped out of my car, something silver caught my eye. Snow chains. Charlie had gotten up at god knows when, to put snow chains on my car. I was...deeply touched. I wasn’t used to someone taking care of me. I loved Renee to death, but when it came to actual parenting, she was very hands-off. I was fiercely independent already, on top of being the one that took care of Renee. 

I heard my name called out, and I turned to see Angela waving to me. I smiled and began to walk towards her. I was probably two cars away from her when I heard an odd sound. 

It was a high pitched screech and was fast becoming painfully loud. I looked up, tense and alert. 

I saw several things simultaneously. Nothing was moving in slow motion, the way it does in the movies. Instead, the adrenaline rush seemed to make my brain work faster and I was able to absorb in clear detail several things at once. 

Edward Cullen was standing about seven cars down from me, staring at me in horror. His face stood out from a sea of faces, all frozen in the same mask of shock. But of more immediate importance was the dark blue van that was skidding, tires locked and squealing against the breaks. It was spinning wildly across the ice of the parking lot. It was going to hit the front corner of the car behind me, and I was standing between them. Using all my years of training, my hard-won reflexes, I jumped and rolled over the bonnet of the car behind me and landed against something very hard and very cold. I looked up and saw Edward Cullen, holding me tightly against his chest. 

The crunch of the van hitting the car was almost as loud as the initial screech, the car rocketing wildly as it absorbed the impact of the van. 

I was breathing heavily as I rose shakily to my feet, pushing away from Edward, the adrenaline making my chest feel tight. Ignoring the shocked shouts of my peers and Edward’s protest, I hurried as fast as I could to the van, wrenching the passenger door open to reveal Tyler Crowley. He was cut and punctured by glass, looking very dazed. 

“Tyler, are you okay?” I called. 

“Bella?” He mumbled. “I-I thought… oh my god.” 

“Come on Tyler, try sliding across the seat. You need to get out,” I turned towards the amassing crowd. “Somebody call an ambulance!” I helped pull Tyler out of the van and settled him on the ground in a glass free patch, so he could come back to his senses. 

Angela reached me first, pulling me into a tight hug. “Oh my god Bella! Are you okay? How did you get out of the way?”

I shrugged speechlessly. “Adrenaline?” I noticed Edward and his family watching me. I wanted to say thank you to him for catching me, but now didn’t feel like the right moment. It didn’t take long for the ambulance to arrive and I was ushered into the ambulance with Tyler, at the insistence of the EMT, despite my assurances that I was fine. 

Charlie was already at the hospital when I arrived. “Oh my god, Bella, are you okay?” 

“Yes dad, I’m fine.” I exclaimed, feeling like I’d already said it one hundred times. The nurse that met us told Charlie to wait at reception until I was released by the doctor. I was surprised to see Edward flitting around a corner. I wasn’t sure why he was here, but perhaps I’d get that chance to thank him. I frowned. Hang on, how did Edward even catch me? He had been so far away when the van had struck, how did he get to me so _fast_? Not even I could move that fast, not even the best trained Assassins could move that fast. 

Tyler and I were then led straight to a large exam room, where the beds were separated by big blue curtains. After a cursory glance by one of the ER doctors, proving I was fine, I was still told to wait for the doctor in change to take one more look before I could be released.

Tyler was repeating over and over again how sorry he was, so I closed my eyes and pretended I was asleep to escape his pleading. 

“Is she asleep?” Came that annoyingly velvety voice. 

My eyes snapped open. “And what are you doing here?” I demanded curtly.

Edward laughed. “Never mind that, I’ve come to spring you.” 

Moments later, the door burst open and the single most handsome man I had ever seen walked through. Clearly, this was Dr Cullen. He was tall, probably as tall as Jasper Hale. His hair was light blonde, and his skin was as pale as Edward’s. His face looked like it was carved from marble by an old Greek master. He looked like Zeus’s younger, hotter brother. But then I met his eyes. 

Something snapped inside me as I looked into his honey gold eyes. It was like a hole inside my chest that I didn’t even know I had, was filled. It was over-filled even, it was overwhelming. It was like I had known this man all my life, despite not having even met him before. Somewhere, outside my current level of comprehension, someone gasped. I didn’t know how much time had passed as I stared into Dr Cullen’s eyes. It could have been moments; it could have been centuries. Time had become meaningless, as long as he would spend it all with me. Those eyes, I could never get tired of looking into those eyes. 

Someone cleared their throat, and the moment was over. 

“Well, Miss Swan, your vitals look fine.” Dr Cullen said, walking over to me now, his cool fingers gently feeling against my head. “You’re certain you didn’t bump your head? I can’t feel a bump, but that doesn’t mean one won’t form. You haven’t felt any pain?”

It took me a second to find my voice. “Uh, no, no pain. Edward caught me after I jumped, I didn’t hit my head or anything. And please, just Bella.” 

Dr Cullen smiled. “Then please, as Edward’s friend, call me Carlisle.” He pulled away then, and I instantly missed his touch. I didn’t miss it for long, though this second touch wasn’t quite as pleasant, as he stretched the skin around my eyes to flash a light across them. “Pupils are equal and reactive. It seems you were very lucky, Bella.”

I blinked, trying to get a hold of myself, “Yeah, adrenaline and Edward. If he hadn’t caught me, we would probably be having a different conversation.”

Edward scoffed at that, which made me, unfortunately, look around Carlisle to raise an eyebrow at my classmate. 

Carlisle cleared his throat and busied himself with my chart. “Well, yes, uh, very lucky.”

Something was going on with these Cullens’. Supposedly, none of them were blood related, aside from the Hales, and yet they were all so inhumanly beautiful? Plus Edward’s super speed? Despite how befuddled Dr Cullen made me feel, I still had my wit’s about me enough to realise something hinky was going on. 

“Well, I should be able to discharge you then. If you do feel any pain, just take a Tylenol. But if you have any blurred vision or start seeing black spots, I want you to come straight back, okay?”

“Yes, sir.” I said, flushing slightly when Carlisle smiled warmly at me. “Can I go back to school?” 

“I think you should take it easy for the rest of the day.”

“Don’t worry Bella, I’ll be going back to school, to spread the word that you both survived.” Edward said, smirking crookedly. 

“Actually,” Dr Cullen corrected. “Most of the school seems to be in the waiting room.” 

So much for being under the radar. “Oh no,” I groaned, covering my face with my hands. 

Dr Cullen raised his eyebrows. “Do you want to stay?” Did I detect a hint of hope in his tone? Surely not? I was the besotted one here. 

“No, no!” I insisted, throwing my legs over the side of the bed and hopping down quickly. I made sure to stumble, I had an act to keep up after all. However, my heart soared when Dr Cullen caught me with his strong, cool hands. Gods, I was _not_ swooning! I _wasn’t_!

“I’m fine.” I suddenly wished I didn’t have an act to put on in front of him. I didn’t want him to think I was some clutz. What the fuck. Why do I care so much? 

“Please, get plenty of rest. You’ve had a shock today.” He reminded me as he steadied me. 

I practically floated out of the room. However, the moment I stepped outside, a sharp pain hit my chest, I had to clench my jaw to keep from crying out. What? After a few steadying breaths, the pain subsided to a dull ache. 

Edward was hot on my heels, frowning at me. “Are you okay?” He asked, almost hesitantly. 

I swallowed thickly. “I think so. Hey, wait, can I ask you something?” I dismissed the pain in my chest, the growing emptiness I was feeling the further we walked away from the exam room. 

Edward’s face suddenly turned stony and closed off. “What do you want?” 

“I just… How did you get over to me so fast?” 

“I was standing right next to you.” He lied. “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?”

I shook my head. “Don’t gaslight me, there’s nothing wrong with my head. How did you get there so fast?” 

“What do you want from me? I caught you, that’s it. Forget about it.” 

“I want to know the truth,” I said. _Hypocrite_ , my conscience whispered.

“What do you think happened?” He snapped. 

“I saw you about six cars away when the van was coming, and I rolled over the car. And then you were suddenly catching me.” I knew it sounded crazy, but I _know_ what I saw. I’m trained to remember fine details. I know what I remembered was the truth. 

He looked at me incredulously. “And what? You think I teleported over to you in time to catch you?”

I scoffed. “No, I don’t think you teleported; I think you moved very _very_ fast.” 

“Nobody will believe that you know?” His voice held an edge of derision. 

I rolled my eyes so hard, it almost hurt. “Newsflash Edward, I was going to fucking tell anyone.” I said in a dangerously calm tone. 

Surprise flitted across his face. “Then why does it matter?” 

“It matters to me,” I insisted. “If I’m going to be lying and saying that you were right there the whole time, there’d better be a good reason why I’m doing it. I suck at lying.” 

Edward rolled his eyes. “Can’t you just thank me and get over it?” 

“Thank you.” I waited, fuming and expectant. 

“You’re not going to let it go, are you?” 

“No.” 

“I’m sorry,” He said softly, as if he didn’t intend for me to hear him. Louder he said, “Well, in that case, I hope you enjoy disappointment.” 

  
We scowled at each other in silence. In my anger, I snapped, “Why did you even bother?” 

He paused and for a brief moment, his otherwise stony face was unexpectedly vulnerable. “I don’t know.” He whispered. And then he turned his back on me and walked away, leaving me confused, with a dull aching in my chest. 

The waiting room was as unpleasant as I had feared. It seemed like every face I knew in Forks was there, staring at me. Charlie rushed to my side. 

“There’s nothing wrong with me.” I said gently, trying to control my anger and ignore the growing emptiness in my chest. Charlie didn’t deserve my ire. 

“What did the doctor say?” 

I felt my cheeks heat slightly and warmth flood through me at the thought of Dr Cullen. I tamped that emotion down _hard._ “Dr Cullen saw me, and he said I was fine, and I could go home,” I sighed. Mike, Jessica, Eric, and Angela were all there, beginning to converge on us. “Let’s go.” I urged. 

Charlie put one arm behind my back and led me to the glass doors of the exit. I waved sheepishly at my friends, hoping to convey that they didn’t need to worry anymore. I was a huge relief, the first time I’d ever felt that way, to get into the cruiser. 

“I had one of my deputies drive Eleanor home, so you don’t have to worry about her. I know how much you love your car.” 

I thanked him, and we drove the rest of the way home in silence. When we got to the house, Charlie spoke again. “Um… you’ll need to call Renee.” He hung his head, guilty. 

I was appalled. Now I was going to have to pretend on the phone that I was talking to Renee instead of Rebecca. I hadn’t had any actual contact with my mother since moving to Forks, aside from the weekly reports I sent her. Rebecca had told me Renee was on mission. The fact that Charlie had even gotten through to her was impressive. But I didn’t want to risk calling her if she was in the middle of something important. “You told Mom?!”

“Sorry.” 

I slammed the cruiser’s door a little harder than necessary on my way out. I had a part to play, of course. I called Rebecca’s number and pretended I was calming down a hysterical Renee and trying not to laugh at Rebecca’s dry comments. Rebecca Crane was my handler for the duration of my stay at Forks when Renee was unavailable. She said it was the easiest assignment she ever had, though she wouldn’t be on my case for much longer. Apparently, something big was happening in Rome, Italy that Rebecca was needed for soon. I was hoping my next handler would either be my mother or someone else I knew. The last thing I needed was a complete stranger reading my reports from Forks, which usually surmounted in teenage drama and angst. 

The only thing that made me feel better was that there was finally some movement on the Cullen case. There _definitely_ was something odd about them. And after meeting Dr Cullen… when I first saw him, I felt more than I had ever felt before. But now… now that he was gone and I was alone in my room, the aching in my chest had grown more prominent, as had the empty feeling. It was like Dr Cullen had taken something from me, like he had stolen part of my soul. How was this possible? Did he have an item of Eden? And why would he use it on me, if he even had one? 

I was now consumed by the mystery of the Cullens’ and found a growing obsession with the good doctor himself. I wasn’t as eager to escape Forks as I had been when I arrived, as any normal sane person would be. 

I decided that I might as well go to bed early that night. Charlie continued to watch me anxiously, and it was getting on my nerves. I stopped on my way to grab three Tylenol from the bathroom. Sure, I didn’t really need them as I wasn’t in any _real_ pain, but they helped calm me somewhat as I drifted to sleep. 

That was the first night I dreamed of Dr Carlisle Cullen.


	9. A Family Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rosalie has issues, but we love her anyway. This will PROBABLY be the only time we cut away from Bella's POV. I hope you enjoy this chapter anyway.

When Carlisle returned home, he was greeted by his children, all assembled in the living room, waiting for him. 

Carlisle had to withhold a chuckle. “And what is this? An intervention?” 

Alice was practically vibrating with excitement and Jasper was looking at her lovingly. 

Rosalie had a sneer across her beautiful features, Emmett had his arm around her, at the ready to restrain her if necessary. 

Edward had his arm around Esme’s waist, resting his chin on top of her head. 

“Edward said you have some news for us,” Alice said, her face alight with excitement. 

_Edward, did you tell them?_ Carlisle thought to his oldest son. 

“No, I only mentioned that you would have something to tell us once you returned from the hospital.” Edward assured. 

Carlisle sighed, shrugging out of his coat and putting down his briefcase. “I see. Well, it seems that the beginnings of a Mating Bond has been established between me and another.” 

Alice practically squealed with her excitement, earning a glare from Edward. “Who, who, who?” There were very _very_ few things Alice couldn’t see, one of them was the formation of Mating Bonds, as they weren’t a choice. 

“Chief Swan’s daughter, Isabella.” 

The group, beside Edward, gasped. “You have a Mating Bond with a _human_?” Rosalie practically screeched. 

Carlisle nodded calmed. “Yes, it initiated when our eyes met at the hospital today.” 

Rosalie practically leapt to her feet. “You can’t do this, Carlisle. She is _human._ You can’t take her life; I won’t stand for it. It’s dangerous for you to be around her!”

Edward scoffed. “Please, from Mr Control himself? He performs _surgery_ on humans. An extremely delicate and fragile operation, surrounded with the aroma of blood. I think if he can handle that, he can handle having a human for a mate.” 

Rosalie glared at her brother. “Edward, you support this? You want Bella Swan to become one of us? That’s so selfish!”

Edward glared right back. “And you weren’t? You met _your_ mate when he was human, but you still brought him back to be changed! Very hypocritical of you, Rosalie Hale.” 

Rosalie actually _stomped her foot._ “That was different, and you know it _Ed_ ward. Emmett was going to die either way. Bella is a healthy human girl, with her whole life ahead of her. You shouldn’t be advocating that Carlisle take that from her!” 

“Carlisle has been _alone_ for 342 _years_ , Rosalie. He hasn’t had a mate, been without a partner for three and a half centuries. I have been with him for a fraction of that time, but I have seen his mind, I know how lonely he has been,” Edward snapped back with a growl. “ _You_ were without your mate for a year. A _single_ year. Don’t pretend to know what is best in this situation. I _will_ make sure that you stay out of the way if I have to, _Ros_ alie.” 

“Now, now,” Carlisle said, stepping in. “Please do not fight, not on my account. Rosalie, thank you for trying to keep Bella’s best interests at heart. And Edward, thank you for trying to keep _my_ best interests at heart. However, I have decided not to pursue Bella Swan.” 

Rosalie grinned triumphantly, while Edward scowled. Alice looked shocked and Esme looked disappointed. Emmett and Jasper shared a glance.

Carlisle pressed on. “Bella Swan is only seventeen. I am three-hundred and sixty-five. I may, physically, be only twenty-three, but here in Forks, I am currently posing as a thirty-year-old. Quite an age difference. I will wait until she is of age before I even _think_ of pursuing her in a romantic way. Besides, who is to say that Bella will even want to be with me, given the opportunity? And who is to say she will even accept me? No, I have waited this long, what is a few more years? I hope to form a friendship with her first, a _distant_ friendship. Let whatever will be, be. It will progress _naturally_. No meddling, no flirting. It is inappropriate. But it will always be _her_ choice. I will not allow her to feel pressured, by me OR my children. Is that clear?” 

The six children’s expressions changed to the opposite of what it had been before. Rosalie was scowling. Since she couldn’t fight Carlisle’s decision, she turned on her heel and fled the living room. Alice suddenly became lost in a vision. 

“Oh,” She said softly, and Edward’s face spread into a grin. Alice turned to Carlisle. “I’m going to love her someday.” 

Edward suddenly turned serious. “But the Bond is already starting to affect Bella. When we left the hospital room together, she was clutching her chest. She was in pain, Carlisle, and you were just in the other room. What sort of pain must she be in now, across town from you?” 

Carlisle sighed. “It cannot be helped. I will not break propriety. I regret more than you know that Bella might be in pain. I hope that we both can be strong enough to survive it.” 

However, Edward looked like he had a plan forming in his mind. He and Alice shared a look, as she seemed to be joining in on his planning. 

Carlisle sighed. They would push at the boundary he had set, but he knew they would not break it. He just hoped Bella would take whatever they planned well.


	10. ♫ This Heart Attack ♫

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, Bella has figured out there is indeed something going on between her and Carlisle, though not exactly what yet.

The next day at school was much like my first. People stared at me. 

My friends thought I was really impressive, jumping and rolling out of the way of an oncoming van, despite my apparent lack of hand-eye-coordination. 

I just put it down to adrenaline, and that I doubted anything like that could ever happen again. So don’t expect any improvement in gym. 

Tyler Crowley was impossible, following me around, obsessed with making amends to me somehow. I tried to convince him what I wanted more than anything else was for him to forget all about it, especially since nothing had actually happened to me. But he remained insistent. He followed me between classes and sat at our now over-crowded lunch table. Mike and Eric were even less friendly toward him than they were to each other, which made me worry that I’d gained another unwelcome fan. 

Edward kept his distance, but he often sent knowing glances my way, which confused the hell out of me. It made me wonder if he regretted catching me, or if he was amused that I was lying for him. I wanted very much to talk to him, and the day after the accident, I tried. The last time I’d seen him, outside the ER, we’d both been so furious. But I wasn’t afraid of him, I realised. I hadn’t thought about it at the time, but whatever instinctual fear I had had before was completely gone. Was that because he’d caught me or did it have something to do with this strange feeling I had in my chest, the pain and the emptiness. However, instead of fear, what I felt was anger. I was still angry that he wouldn’t trust me with the truth, even though I was keeping my end of the bargain flawlessly. However, overnight, the heat of my anger faded into awed gratitude. 

Even with all my skills as an Assassin, with how hard I trained and ran and fought, I would never be as fast as Edward had been that day. 

The next day, he was already seated when I got to Biology, looking straight ahead, but with a slight smile playing around his mouth. However, he showed no sign that he realised I was there. 

“Hello, Edward.” I said pleasantly, to show him I wasn’t going to demand answers again. 

He turned his head a fraction toward me without meeting my gaze, nodded once, and then looked the other way. 

I rolled her my at this. Clearly he was trying his hardest to try and convince me that he hadn’t done anything impossible. But I let him have his dramatics. ‘

Mike, however, was getting on my last nerve. He had been sighing over me all day. It was so obvious that Jessica had a thing for him, and yet, he couldn’t stop mooning over me. I had even asked me if she wanted to ask Mike to the Sadie Hawkins dance, to which Bella vehemently denied. I gave Jessica the full go ahead. I really had to do something about him, I could sense he was starting to grow a crush on me. It wasn’t going to be easy either. In a small town like this, where everyone lived on top of each other, diplomacy was essential. But I had no experience with overly friendly boys, the ones back in Illinois didn’t think of me that way, as we’d all grown up together. I had never had a boyfriend, never been on a real date. I had never been asked, so I didn’t know how to let someone down easy. I hoped that when Jessica asked him, he would say yes and leave me alone. Even with the light training I’d had in the art of seduction, I felt very much out of my depth. 

As far as love, well, I’d never been in love. And I’d definitely never had sex, couldn’t even imagine having sex. My mind wandered over to Dr Cullen… his cool hands and his beautiful face… I shook my head to clear it. Bad Bella, bad! I sighed, being a teenager was ridiculous. Especially since I was pining over a man I most definitely _couldn’t_ have. 

Edward noticed the interaction, then my reaction and smirked. Obviously, he would now only speak to me to make fun of me. “You seem to have an admirer.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I noticed.”

Edward raised his eyebrows, not expecting this reaction. “Not reciprocated?”

I snorted. “No, he’s too young for me.” I said without thinking. Boys matured a bit slower than girls already, but my life experience made me way older in the sense of emotional maturity. I’d been looking after Renee, managing a household. Not to mention, I had taken a life. I was an _assassin_ for fuck’s sake. What did I have in common with boys my age?

This made Edward frown. “Aren’t you 17?”

I blushed. “Um, yeah. I, er, prefer to date older people.” My mind immediately jumped to Dr Cullen, though I tried to squash that down. There was no way a man of his age would date me, a seventeen-year-old. It just didn’t happen, it wasn’t appropriate. No matter how much those thoughts made my chest ache and the emptiness grow.

Edward raised an eyebrow, making me blush even harder. They didn’t speak for the rest of the period. I launched myself from my seat the minute the bell rang, avoiding Edward’s slightly bemused gaze.

Fuck, that was embarrassing. God, maybe I should just scream to the rooftops that I had the hots for Dr Cullen. That’s what it felt like I’d said to Edward’s face, when I blurted out that I liked to date older people. Ugh. That sounded so slutty. Am I a slut? For thirsting over my classmate’s _father_? Daddy kink, much? I shuddered at the thought. But he didn’t _look_ thirty. He looked closer to _twenty_ , if I was being honest. If he _was_ twenty, I would feel way less skeevy than I do right now. 

The snow washed away for good after that one dangerously icy day. Mike was disappointed he’d never gotten to stage his snowball fight but pleased that the beach trip he had been planning would soon be possible. The rain continued heavily, though, as the weeks passed. 

I was surprised that Jessica wasn’t her usual gushing self in Trig and Spanish. She was silent as she walked by my side between classes and I was afraid to ask her why. If Mike had turned her down, I was the last person she would want to tell.

My fears were strengthened when during lunch, Jessica sat as far from Mike as possible, chatting animatedly with Eric. Mike was unusually quiet. Mike was still quiet when he walked me to class, the uncomfortable look on his face a bad sign. But he didn’t broach the subject until I was in my seat and he was perched on my desk. Edward, of course, was silent in his seat beside me. 

“So,” Mike said, looking at the floor. “Jessica asked me to the spring dance.”

“That’s great.” I made my voice bright and enthusiastic. “You’ll have a lot of fun with Jessica.”

“Well…” He floundered as he examined my smile, clearly not happy with my response. “I told her I had to think about it.”

“Why would you do that?” I let disapproval colour my tone, though I was relieved that he hadn’t given her an absolute no.

His face was bright red as he looked down again.

“I was wondering if… well, if you might be planning to ask me.”

I paused for a moment. But I saw from the corner of my eye, Edward’s head tilt reflexively in my direction. Odd, did he actually care about what was unfolding beside him? Why?

“Mike, I think you should tell her yes,” I said slowly.

“Did you already ask someone?” Did Edward notice how Mike’s eyes flickered in his direction? Ew. I don’t ever want to date Edward Cullen, no matter how gorgeous he was. _Doctor_ Cullen on the other hand...

“No,” I assured him. “I’m not going to the dance at all.”

“Why not?”

I didn’t want to tell him about how I had the grace for dance that I apparently lacked in sports. He didn’t have to know I was actually quite an excellent dancer. Part of assassin training. Dancing helped your hand-to-hand combat, after all. And people let information slip while they were dancing. “I’m going to Seattle that Saturday,” I explained. I needed to get out of town anyway, it was suddenly the perfect time to go.

“Can’t you go some other weekend?”

“Sorry, no,” I said. “So, you shouldn’t make Jess wait any longer, it’s rude.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” He mumbled and turned dejectedly to his seat. I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers into my temples, trying to cleanse myself of teenage drama. Mr Banner began talking, so I opened my eyes.

Edward was staring at me curiously, that same familiar edge of frustration even more distinct now in his black eyes. I stared back surprised, expecting him to look quickly away. But he continued to gaze with probing intensity into my eyes. It made me frown. What was he looking for? What was he searching for when he looked at me? 

“What is the series of chemical reactions used by all aerobic organisms to generate energy through the oxidisation of acetate? Mr Cullen?” The teacher called, seeking the answer to the question he had just asked. 

“The Krebs Cycle,” Edward answered, seeming reluctant as he turned to look at Mr Banner.

I looked down at my notes, confused. Why would he level such a look at me? I don’t know what he wanted from me. Could he know about whatever happened between me and Dr Cullen? 

When the bell rang at last, I turned my back to him to gather my things, expecting him to leave immediately as usual. 

“Bella?” Came his soft voice. 

My expression was wary when I turned to him; his expression was unreadable. He didn’t say anything. “What? Are you speaking to me again?” I finally asked, putting as much sarcasm into my voice as I could. 

His lips twitch, fighting a smile. “No, not really.” He admitted. 

I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly though my nose, aware that I was gritting my teeth. “Then what do you want, Edward?” 

“I’m sorry.” He sounded sincere.. “I’m being very rude, I know. But there are...extenuating circumstances that are...keeping me from saying much. I heard that you are going down to La Push beach in a week or so, or that Mike Newton is. I think, if you learn about some of the local history, the legends… I might be able to talk with you more.” 

I glared at him, my anger flaring. The classroom was nearly empty, aside from Mr Banner. “Maybe I want to talk to you now! Maybe I want to march up to Forks hospital to speak with Dr Cullen,” I couldn’t bear to say, ‘your father’ when I had a crush on him, “and demand to know what is going on and demand back what he took from me.” 

Edward frowned. “What he took from you? Bella, I was there the whole time, he didn’t take anything from you.” 

I nearly growled in frustration. “Then why do I feel this way? My chest…” I broke off then, the pain in my chest briefly growing stronger. 

Edward surprised me by looking at me gently, almost fondly, looking more vulnerable than I had ever seen. “Oh Bella, I am so sorry. I am so sorry you are feeling this way. I wish there was something _I_ could do to help. Please, when Mike invites you to the beach, say yes, go there. Ask one of the local boys about us. And then you can decide, decide what you want to do. I can’t tell you more than that, not yet. I _can’t_ be the one to say anything. It’s not just my secret.” And with that, he was gone, out the door of the Biology classroom, leaving me incredibly confused. 

Gym had moved on to basketball, which I generally had a good time with, on the Farm. We made up different rules when I played it at home with the other Initiates. But here, I had to pretend I was absolutely useless. My team never passed me the ball, which made it easier. It sucked how many times I had to fall over. It hurt after a while, no matter how many times I used my training to fall properly. It was a relief, as always, to leave. I almost ran to my car; there were so many people I wanted to avoid. I was grateful it hadn’t been my car Tyler’s van had smashed into. There wasn’t a scratch on Eleanor, but Tyler’s parents had to sell the van for parts. 

I almost had a stroke when I rounded the corner and saw a tall, dark figure leaning against the side of my car. Then I realized it was just Eric. I started walking again.

"Hey, Eric," I called.

"Hi, Bella."

"What's up?" I said as I was unlocking the door. I noticed the uncomfortable edge in his voice, but his next words still took me by surprise.

"Uh, I was just wondering... if you would go to the spring dance with me?" His voice broke on the last word.

"I thought it was girls' choice," I said, too startled to be diplomatic.

"Well, yeah," he admitted, shamefaced.

I recovered my composure and tried to make my smile warm. "Thank you for asking me, but I'm going to be in Seattle that day."

"Oh," he said. "Well, maybe next time."

I smiled in a friendly way. “Maybe.” 

Eric slouched off, back towards school. I heard a low chuckle. Edward was walking past the front of my car, looking straight forward, his lips pressed together. I rolled my eyes and slid into the front seat of my car, slamming the door hard. I reversed out into the aisle. Edward was in his car already, two spaces down, sliding out smoothly in front of me, cutting me off. He stopped there, to wait for his family; I could see the four of them walking this way, but still by the cafeteria. I considered taking out the rear of his shiny Volvo, but there were too many witnesses, and the last thing I wanted was witnesses. Be _discreet_. It was one of the three tenants after all. I looked in the rear-view mirror, seeing that a line was beginning to form. Directly behind me, Tyler Crowley was in his recently acquired, used Sentra, waving. I was too annoyed to acknowledge him.

While I was sitting, looking everywhere but the car in front, I heard a knock on my passenger side window. I looked over; it was Tyler. I looked back in her rear-view mirror, confused. His car was still running, the door left open. I pressed a button on the console. I’d put power windows in the car when I was fixing it up

“I’m sorry Tyler, I’m stuck behind Cullen.” I was annoyed, obviously the holdup wasn’t my fault.

“Oh, I know. I just wanted to ask you something while we’re trapped here.” He grinned.

This could not be happening.

“Will you ask me to the spring dance?” He continued.

“I’m not going to be in town, Tyler.” My voice sounded a little sharp. I had to remember that it wasn’t his fault that Mike and Eric had already used up my quota of patience for the day.

“Yeah, Mike said that.” He admitted.

“Then why –”

Tyler shrugged. “I was hoping that you were just letting him down easy.” Okay, it was completely his fault.

“Ah, no Tyler. I’m not going to the dance with anyone. _Anyone_. I have zero interest in it and I’m going to be out of town for it.”

“That’s cool. We still have prom.”

“I really don’t want to be rude, Tyler, but I’m not interested in going to any dances with anyone at this school. Nothing against you or the rest of the population, but I’m not going, end of story.”

And before he could respond, the Cullens’ were already beginning to drive away, so I took the opportunity to drive away also. However, in his rear-view mirror, Edward’s eyes were on me. He was unquestionably shaking with laughter. Had he somehow heard everything I’d said? It wouldn’t surprise me if he had. Super speed, why not super hearing too? I flipped him off, making him laugh even harder.

Even I cracked a slight smile. “Go fuck yourself, Cullen.” I said out loud, knowing he (and probably the rest of the car’s occupants) could hear me. That made him raise an eyebrow in surprise and I smirked before I turned off the road into the other direction they were going. I could have sworn I saw the other occupants laughing too.


	11. Alice Can What????

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice spills the tea... a little bit

The next day was strange, to say the least. And not for any reason beside the fact that I was being beckoned over by Edward and Alice to sit at a table with them, alone. 

I leaned against the chair in front of the strange pair. "This is different." I said after a moment. 

"Please, sit." Edward said gesturing to the chair I was leaning on. I was confused, but did as I was bid. 

"Hi Bella, I'm Alice. It's so great to finally meet you!" She exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear, either not noticing or flat out ignoring the tension between Edward and myself. 

"Hey Alice, good to meet you too." I said, smiling warmly at her. I felt no need to be rude to her, as she hadn't been rude to me, unlike her annoying brother. At least, she wasn't all dark and broody. If anything, she seemed like a bouncy ball of sunshine. I turned back to Edward. "I thought you weren't going to talk to me until after I…"

He cut me off before I could speak. "Yes, we can't talk about  _ that _ . But Alice was very excited to meet you, so I thought we could just get to know each other, as friends."

Alice was beaming at me, but I had no idea what I had done to make her so pleased with me. Instead, she barrelled right into interrogating me. "So, what are your hobbies?" 

My brain immediately went to my workouts and fitness, but I couldn't exactly talk about them, and blow my carefully maintained cover. "I love to read. Especially the classics. They're like little time capsules, you know? Commentaries on the world they were written in. I also really like to draw." 

Alice's eyes lit up. "You like to draw? What kind of drawings? I love clothes design and Esme loves interior design. We spend most of our time drawing together."

I smiled softly at her. "Oh, I like drawing flowers, nature, landscapes. And that's really sweet, that you and your mother do stuff like that together. Renee and I don't really do stuff together. Well, she drags me to the gym whenever she gets the chance. She likes having me there to cheer her on, you know?"  _ Lies _ . 

"Well, that's still something. What about your car? It's pretty sweet. I really love to drive, particularly when it's fast." Alice enthused. 

I grinned widely at her. "Yes, I  _ love _ to drive fast." Damn, don't lose your cover, I reminded myself. It was just so  _ easy _ to talk with Alice. It felt like the most natural thing in the world. "My step-father and I restored Eleanor together. I enjoyed doing that with him, but it's not something I would call a 'hobby'. I do my own maintenance, but that's about as far as it goes."

Alice nodded, agreeing with me. "Yes, I like cars and I help Rosalie every now and then on our cars. She's a real gearhead. But I wouldn't say it was a hobby for me either. Now shopping, that's a hobby I can get behind."

I laughed. "Of course, that doesn't surprise me at all, that the fashion designer loves to shop. I can already pick out some designer names on the clothes you and your siblings are wearing right now. Let me guess, you do all the clothes shopping in the family?"

Alice giggled. "You hit the nail right on the head." We lapsed into silence for a moment. “Oh, do you know who else likes literature? Carlisle.”

I blushed at the mention of Dr Cullen, but I tried to speak nonchalantly. “Oh, really?That’s cool.” I didn’t know where to go from there, but Alice clearly did. 

“He has such a big library, I don’t think he would mind if you came over to have a browse of his collection.”

“Alice.” Edward murmured, a warning in his tone.

Alice seemed to ignore the warning, which made me frown. What was he trying to stop her from saying. “Oh, I have been wondering, since you’re so good at Biology, if you want to come over and study some time next week?”

I was taken aback. I wasn’t supposed to engage with the Cullens’. I was only told to observe. Edward was already acting very odd, and now I’m being invited over to the mysterious Cullen house? My Assassin training told me to take weapons, but the part of me that ached, the emptiness, told me it was safe, they weren’t going to hurt me. I didn’t understand what was happening. Before I could stop myself, my mouth was moving, 

“Sure, I’ll have to ask Charlie first, but I’m certain it will be okay.” 

Alice squealed happily. “Yay, I’m so excited! What about...Wednesday night?” 

I found myself nodding along. “Sure thing.” 

Towards the end of the lunch period, Edward left abruptly, heading over to the other table, where the rest of the Cullen kids were sitting. He seemed to whisper something to them, and whatever it was, made the group of them get up and leave the cafeteria. The blonde, Rosalie glared at me briefly, before following the three boys out of the room. 

That left Alice and I sitting together. She leaned into me, her lavender scent surrounding and making me feel calm. Odd. Gods, I need to get a new word to describe the strange things about the Cullens’. Odd was getting old. 

“So, you have the hots for Carlisle.” Alice said, stating it as if it were solid fact, not just speculation.

I flushed bright red. “Um, excuse me?” I exclaimed. 

Alice giggled. “Oh, you don’t have to hide it. I  _ know _ . It’s okay. None of us think any less of you.” 

My face, still flushed, somehow got redder. I was supposed to be better than this, goddamn it. “How did you know?” I hissed. “Did Edward say anything?”

Alice giggled again. “I could tell by how you blushed when I brought Carlisle up before. And how much you’re blushing right now.”

“Oh my god.” I whispered. “You can’t tell anyone, okay? I only told Edward because…”

Alice smiled gently, and clasped my shoulder softly with her hard, cold hand. “The pain in your chest. The emptiness. I get it Bella.” 

My eyes widened. “You-you get it?” 

Alice nodded. “I went through it with Jasper.”

I frowned. “How did you get it to stop?”

Alice sighed sadly. “I think that’s something you’ll have to talk to Carlisle about. Though, as Carlisle’s daughter, I have to say. Don’t. Play. With. His. Heart.” That was the first time I’d ever seen Alice so serious. “Carlisle has been alone for a long time. He deserves something  _ real _ .” 

I nodded. “Of course, I would never do something like that. But…”

Alice frowned. “But what?”

“Why are you and Edward doing this? I’m just some girl, who met Carlisle once. Why are you going to all this effort? I mean, what does Carlisle think about all this?” 

Alice sighed. “He uh, he doesn’t know we’re trying to help. He doesn’t want us to interfere, but we don’t want him to miss this chance.”

“Miss this chance…?” I was so confused. They wanted me to date their father? Against his will. “I don’t want Carlisle to feel forced. I mean, he’s an adult, a father. Why would he want to be with me? I’m just a kid.”

Alice laughed. “Oh, that’s exactly what Carlisle said to us about you. He said he didn’t want you to feel pressured into having anything with him. He actually decided that he won’t, in his words, ‘pursue Bella’ until you are eighteen, or maybe even older.” 

I stared at her in shock. “So he knows, he knows about-about my chest and how I feel, what happened after we met?”

Alice nodded. “Yes, he knows everything. I promise, you don’t have to worry about Carlisle. It’s going to be okay.”

I was so confused. I didn’t understand. Why were they so okay with their father trying to shack up with a seventeen year old? Why were they so okay with a girl  _ younger _ than them wanting  _ something _ (?) with their father? I just didn’t get it. And I didn’t know how this fit in with my mandate as an assassin? I wasn’t supposed to get close with the Cullens’. I certainly wasn’t supposed to form some sort of a connection with the patriarch. Weren’t the Cullen supposed to be some sort of cult? Is  _ that _ why they’re so okay with me? Because they’re a cult? Alice’s eyes glazed over and her face went blank, suddenly, she started laughing. 

I stared at her, until her laughter slowed down to soft giggles. “Oh, Bella, you’re so funny!”

“What?” I demanded, feeling the blush rise in my cheeks. 

“We’re not a cult!” Alice giggled. “I promise!”

I blinked in shock. “Can you-can you read my mind?”

Alice shook her head. “No, no I can’t read minds. You had  _ decided _ that we were in a cult, I Saw you confronting us about it. I thought I would just nip that theory in the bud.”

“You  _ Saw _ it? What do you mean you  _ Saw _ it?”

“I get...visions. Whenever someone makes a decision, I see the possible and most likely consequences of that decision. They aren’t always accurate, they’re so subject to change, whenever someone changes their mind. But since I was right in front of you when you made the decision, it was very precise.”

I gaped at her. “You can see the future? Just by yourself, nothing gives you the ability?”

Alice nodded. “Yup, it’s my own little Gift.”

“Are you serious? You’re not fucking with me right now?”

Alice laughed, a soft tinkling sound. “No, I’m not fucking with you.” 

“That’s insane.” I whispered. 

Before I could ask anything else, the bell rang. 

“See you later, Bella.” Alice called from the table where she was still sitting. 

I shook my head and just went to class. I considered wagging the last two periods of school, to just process everything Alice had said to me. After debating outside my locker, I headed straight to the office. 

Once there, I tried to make myself look as miserable as possible. “Mrs Cope,” I called. She looked up from her paperwork, and gave me a smile. 

“Yes dear?” 

“I'm feeling really awful. A really bad headache and nausea.” 

“Oh no, that’s terrible honey. Do you need to go home?” Mrs Cope asked sympathetically. 

I nodded. “Yes, if that’s okay? I tried to see if I could make it, but I can’t. I think I might just go lie down.”

“Fair enough sweetheart. Okay, you’re excused.”

With a weak smile, I turned and left the office. Rather quickly, I walked to my car and headed for home. Today was just a massive clusterfuck.


	12. Sometimes You Just Need A Gal Pal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bella finally gets all this stuff of her chest to her sister-in-arms

Okay, Alice could see the future. Alice could see the _fucking future_. 

And she didn’t need an object of Eden to do it! What the actual fuck? 

What am I going to say to my handler? What am I going to say to my mother? What am I going to say to the mentors? What am I going to do? 

I wanted to talk to Carlisle. I needed to hear what he thought. And wasn’t that a fucking trip? Since when did I want to report to some guy over the Brotherhood? Since when did I care about anything but the Brotherhood? 

The phone rang, it cut through my musing. How long had I been sitting here? I raced down the stairs. 

“Hey, Bella!” It was Mike Newton. 

“Oh hey Mike, what’s up?” I forced false cheeriness into my voice. 

“I didn’t see you in gym, are you doing alright?”

“Yeah, I had a bit of a migraine, had to come home early.” 

“Ah, I see. Well, I wanted to catch you after Biology, but uh… anyway, I wanted to invite you to La Push this weekend, to the beach. The weather is going to be good, so it’s go time.” 

Edward’s words from before echoed through my mind, his urging for when Mike invited me to go to the beach. “Uh, sure Mike, I’d love to come.”

“Awesome. Well, we’re all meeting at my dad’s store at 10am on Saturday.”

“Great, I’ll see you then.”

“Oh, and Jessica wanted me to tell you that she wants to go dress shopping with you and Angela on Monday night, after school.” 

“Ah, um, that should be fine. I’d love to go, if you could pass that on to Jess.” 

“Yeah, I’m with her now, so no worries. Okay, see you Saturday.”

“See you!” 

Realising the time, I quickly did the small amount of homework that I had and did my afternoon exercises. I was worried that I was growing complacent, soft with no one to spar with here in Forks. I wondered if I could hook up with the local Assassin Bureau in Seattle, get some training in with some of their Initiates on the day of the school dance? 

Feeling out of sorts, but not knowing what else to do, I called Rebecca. She and I had been friends for a while, she was like the big sister I never had. I knew, if I needed to talk to her about something confidentially, it wouldn’t go past her. I just hoped she wasn’t on assignment in Rome yet. She picked up after the first ring.

“Hey hey, Squirt. What’s going on? You don’t normally call outside of designated report time. Is something the matter?” Came her cheery voice. 

I took a deep breath. “I have some things to get off my chest, but I haven’t decided what to do with the information, I need to know it won’t go any further than you.” 

“Sounds serious, kid. Unless it’s life or death, you know you can talk with me. Lay it on me.” 

“You know the Cullen family?”

“Sure, have you been staying away from them?”

“Not exactly. They have been contacting me. You’ve read my reports, so you know about the van incident.”

“Kiddo, you were only meant to observe, not engage.” 

“I know, I know. But I couldn’t exactly rebuff them and keep my cover and still keep their tentative trust.” 

Rebecca was silent for a moment, before she sighed. “Okay kid, but I hope you know what you’re doing. Though, I can tell that’s not all you called to say.” 

“No, I’ve got a lot. When I was in the hospital after the incident, Dr Cullen he… I don’t know what happened exactly, but there is a-a connection between us, somehow. It’s like, when I met his eyes, something formed. Now, my chest hurts whenever I think about him and there’s this emptiness. It only goes away when he’s near. And before you say anything, it’s not just some crush. I’ve had crushes before but this is _different_. Sometimes I can _feel_ him. Like, if he’s feeling stressed or exasperated.” 

“I-I don’t know what to say, kid. There’s a lot in this world that we don’t know about. Perhaps this is just one of those things. Just how old is this doctor?” 

“Well, according to his file, he’s supposed to be thirty-one, but I swear, he doesn’t look a day over twenty.”

“Huh, weird. Well, keep your distance. Don’t get too close.” 

“Rebecca, there’s something else. Alice Cullen, the youngest daughter, she-she can see the future.” 

I could almost hear Rebecca blinking in shock. “What?!”

“It’s true. She proved it to me. I was thinking that they were a cult, and I was thinking about the best way to confront them on it, later down the track. But then her eyes glazed over and then she just started laughing. Once she calmed down, she told me that they’re not in a cult, that they’re just a family.” 

“What the hell? And then what did you say?”

“I asked her if she could read my mind. She just laughed and said ‘no, but Saw’ with a capital S, ‘you confronting us about it, so I thought I’d nip that in the bud’. I asked her if she had an object or something that gave her the ability, and she said no, that it was her own special gift.” 

“And this was _Alice_ Cullen, yes?” 

“Yeah. It’s absolutely insane, but I think I believe her.” 

Rebecca fell quiet again. “It is really weird. I’ll have to do some research.” 

“Oh, and before I forget, I have a study date with Edward and Alice Cullen at their house on Wednesday.”

“I don’t like it.” Was Rebecca’s immediate response. “You’ll be alone. No back up, going into the house of a suspicious family.” 

I sighed. “As far as they know, I’m just an ordinary teenage girl. Why would they suspect me of anything?” 

“Do they know anything about this _connection_ you have with Dr Cullen?” 

“Alice and Edward do, at least. I wanted answers from Edward. When I told him about the pain in my chest, he just looked really sad and apologised to me. He told me he couldn’t tell me more, as it wasn’t his secret to tell.” 

“Well, that’s suspicious as well. He knows about this connection but won’t tell you anything about it?” 

“I know, it’s really frustrating. Alice said she went through the same thing with Jasper, but she wouldn’t tell me more. Said it was something I had to discuss with Dr Cullen directly.” 

“Hmm, as much as I don’t like it, Wednesday might be your best chance to get answers. You have to call me after to check in, or I’ll send an extraction squad. I know, you’re a fully trained Assassin, but you’re still a minor. I have a duty of care.” 

“Yes ma’am.”

“If this connection between you and this Dr Cullen changes, I’m calling your mother.” 

I frowned. “Have you already left the Farm?”

“Yeah, I have to ditch this cellphone pretty soon, with my stuff. We’re heading to Rome. Mentor Miles has offered to take over as your handler. He’s not coming on the Rome mission.” 

I shuddered. William Miles, no matter how closely or distantly we were related, was intimidating. “Sure, he’s family, after all.” 

Rebecca laughed. “You sound overjoyed(!)” 

“Well, I _would_ prefer you to be my handler, but I have a feeling this Rome mission is quite important.” 

“Very. You might not hear from me for a few months.”

“I understand. Stay safe, you hear me?” 

She laughed. “You too, Squirt.” 

“Before you go, where is the Seattle Bureau?” 

“Uh, there’s a real estate agent near the Space Needle that’s a front. Why?”

“I wanted to check it out, see if there wasn’t something small I could do. Or even see if there are any Assassins I can spar with. I want to keep my combat skills sharp.” 

“Well, I can’t say I can approve of you going on missions, no matter how small. But I think it might be a good idea to see if there is anyone you can spar with. It won’t do you any good to get rusty before you’ve even been on a real mission.” 

“Okay, no worries then. I’ll try and keep my nose clean.”

“That’s a good idea.” 

We exchanged pleasantries, but Rebecca had to go. 

It was starting to get a little bit late in the day, so I started on some dinner 

I thought about what Rebecca had said, but overall, I was glad I could get all that off my chest without fear of negative consequences. Bec was a good egg. 

But the beach day tomorrow filled me with fresh trepidation.


	13. You Know, Just Jacob Breaking The Treaty, Nothing To See Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Really long chapter this time, the second half, a lot was lifted and slightly edited from the novel. I just really liked how Jacob told the story originally, so I wanted to keep it.
> 
> I hope you enjoy the read :)

I debated bringing my wetsuit with me, and getting in the water, swimming against the waves. Have a really good workout. In the end, I decided against it for two reasons. Firstly, that would have been so out of character for me, well, for the Bella I presented to the public. And secondly, I had a mission. I needed to find out exactly what Edward had meant, why I had to ask the locals about their legends. Ask them about the Cullens’. I suppose I could try grilling Jacob for information, but our friendship wasn’t that close. I mean, I hadn’t seen him since I was fourteen. Would he even remember me? He’d be what, fifteen now? I hadn't been down to the reservation to see him since moving permanently to Forks. 

I had vague memories of being welcomed like family on the reservation, hearing some of their legends, but never anything to do with the _Cullens’_. Perhaps because it wasn’t relevant, as the Cullens’ weren’t in Forks at the time. But _what_ sort of legends could possibly exist around the Cullens? If they weren’t a cult, like Alice claimed, then what were they? 

They existed as a gold colour in my Vision. At least, they had the last time I’d levelled my Vision at them. But how long ago had that been? I would get my chance on Wednesday to confirm my suspicions. But that still didn’t answer the question of _'what were the Cullens’_? Were they even...human? The super speed of Edward, Alice’s visions, their ethereal beauty. Their eyes changing colour from black to gold and slowly back to black. And this mysterious connection that I had with Dr Cullen. None of this added up to the Cullens' being human. So, if they weren't human, what else could they possibly be? Were The-People-Who-Came-Before still walking the globe? But surely, we would have found evidence of that before this, right? And if they were indeed at least descendents of that race, what were they doing here in Forks, going to school and work like regular folk? 

I'd heard rumours, of course. What small town doesn't have rumours? I'd heard around town, and seen for myself, how secretive the Cullens' were. But there were more instances of strangeness, apart from just their existence. The children's attendance at school was spotty at best. They skipped classes, days, _weeks_ , of school, but still had the best grades? The only common denominator for their absences, was the weather. Whenever the sun came out, Dr and Mrs Cullen would pull the kids out of school and take them out on camping trips, do a lot of 'family time'. But _only_ on sunny days. They are _never_ seen in public on sunny days. They don't take school or staff pictures. They don't seem to have credit cards or loans. Where was all the money coming from? The stock market? With Alice’s foresight, no wonder they were making a killing.

They were an impossible family. None of them were biologically related to each other, except Mrs Cullen and the Hales. They all seemed to be dating each other, and there were rumours of Dr Cullen being some sort of supermodel matchmaker. 

None of it made sense! Of course, I had access to more information on the Cullens' than Mrs Joe-Blow down the street, but I still didn't feel like I had any real answers. 

The only thing I could definitively state was that the Cullens' were simply not human. 

But did that make them dangerous? Deserving of being taken out? They had never been red in my Vision, only gold. People of interest, potential targets, but never enemies. Did that mean they had earned my trust? Edward had been willing to expose whatever they were to save me, that was clear the day of the incident. He would have pulled me out of the way of the van if I hadn't had the ability to do so myself. 

But the instinctual fear, now subsided since I met Dr Cullen, still worried me. The Cullens' didn't just avoid people, people avoided them also, as much as they drew people in. Their alienness made them attractive and repulsive in equal measure. My baser instincts made my body afraid of them, but intellectually, my mind was not. 

Rebecca told me that she would let me do this. I just had to check in with her. If the Cullens' did do away with me, at least I would be avenged. The Brotherhood would come down on them hard. Not that I _really_ believed that the Cullens' would hurt me, but the back-up plan was there if my personal beliefs proved me wrong. 

A frightening thought occurred to me. If the Cullens' weren't human and had super speed on their side, could they actually be killed? Even by a fully trained assassin? Surely they weren't indestructible? Even The-People-Who-Came-Before could be killed. It appeared that _they_ had been wiped out millennia ago. But then, who's to say that the Cullens’ were the same?

As I pulled up to the Newton's Store, I plastered a happy smile on my face, to hide the tumultuous emotions that were roiling about below the surface. 

Mike was _more_ than pleased to see me, which made me uncomfortable. Even though he called shotgun on my behalf, I made sure to squish Jessica in between us. I didn't want to be on Jessica's bad side, especially when there was nothing in it for me. I was already copping nasty looks from Lauren Mallory and her friends for the attention I was receiving from Tyler Crowley. Obviously, Lauren had a thing for him. I would have thought me turning Tyler down for Prom would have clued them in that I wasn't interested in any of the boys at school. My mind was too focused on a certain doctor for that. Which led me back to my prior musing about the Cullen family. I tried to just enjoy the sunlight, basking my face in the rays, but I couldn't help but shake the feeling that I already _knew_ what the Cullens' were, and the answer was just out of reach. Like a half-forgotten song, or the name of an old acquaintance. 

The beach itself was beautiful, in a cold way. The water wasn't blue or peaceful looking in any stretch of the imagination. It was steel grey and choppy, as if one touch of the water would freeze you and burn you at the same time. The sand wasn't vibrant beige/yellow, but a dull brown/grey combination, covered in rocks ranging in colour from black to terracotta. The beach itself was curtained by lush grey forests that seemed to bring back some vibrancy to the scene that not even the sun could. There were massive bleached felled trees that surrounded pre-dug fire pits which must have been used by the locals regularly. 

Someone had thought to bring a cordless CD player, as once we were all settled in around the fire pit, music filled the air. It made the atmosphere a little less awkward. Mike quickly got a fire going and I found myself transfixed by the blue flame that the driftwood created. 

"It's the salt that changes the colour." Mike had explained to me. 

I found myself lost in my own thoughts as conversations went on around me. It wasn't until Mike announced an expedition to the rock pools that I felt myself returning to the present. 

I waited until after Tyler had stated that he was staying behind with Lauren, who was wearing the wrong sort of shoes to be hiking, to volunteer to join the walking group. That decision made Mike beam at me, but I mostly just wanted to get away from Lauren's glare and Tyler's somewhat watchful stare.

The hike to the tide pools was beautiful, but also somewhat unsettling. The path went fairly deep into the forest and was so dense, you could barely see the sky, let alone that far ahead. As much as I loved the beautiful, green alien otherness of the forest, I was grateful when the path turned and headed back out onto the beach. 

The rock pools themselves were like little biomes, their own little worlds, teeming with life. It was fascinating to watch how it was all so affected by the tides. I felt like I could stare at it for hours, the repetitive motion of the light current that pushed and pulled, like a breeze through the air. 

After about an hour, we slowly made our way back through the forest and back to the beach. 

Angela and I were the last to arrive, and, as Eric said our names, I noticed a younger boy sitting on the stones near the fire glance up at me in interest. I sat down next to Angela, and Mike brought us sandwiches and an array of sodas to choose from, while a boy who looked to be the oldest of the visitors rattled off the names of the seven others with him. All I caught was that one of the girls was also named Jessica, and the boy who noticed me was named Jacob. Ah, he had really changed from when I’d last seen him.

It was relaxing to sit with Angela; she was a restful kind of person to be around — she didn't feel the need to fill every silence with chatter. She left me free to think undisturbed while we ate. During lunch the clouds started to advance, slinking across the blue sky, darting in front of the sun momentarily, casting long shadows across the beach, and blackening the waves. 

As they finished eating, people started to drift away in twos and threes. Some walked down to the edge of the waves, trying to skip rocks across the choppy surface. Others were gathering a second expedition to the tide pools. Mike, with Jessica shadowing him, headed up to the one shop in the village. 

Some of the local kids went with them; others went along on the hike. By the time they all had scattered, I was sitting alone on my driftwood log, with Lauren and Tyler occupying themselves by the CD player, and three teenagers from the reservation perched around the circle, including Jacob and the oldest boy who had acted as spokesperson.

A few minutes after Angela left with the hikers, Jacob sauntered over to take her place by my side. He had long, glossy black hair pulled back with a rubber band at the nape of his neck. His skin was beautiful, silky and russet coloured; his eyes were dark, set deep above the high planes of his cheekbones. He still had just a hint of childish roundness left around his chin. Altogether, a very pretty face. However, my positive opinion of his looks was damaged by the first words out of his mouth.

"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?"

It was like the first day of school all over again.

"Bella," I sighed.

"I'm Jacob Black." He held his hand out in a friendly gesture. 

"Oh," I said, shaking his sleek hand. "You're Billy's son. I remember you, we used to make mud pies together."

"Wow, I can’t believe you remember that! Do you remember my older sisters?"

"Rachel and Rebecca," I recalled. Charlie and Billy had thrown us together a lot during my visits, to keep us busy while they fished. We were all too shy to make much progress as friends. "Are they here?" I examined the girls at the ocean's edge, wondering if I would recognize them now.

"No." Jacob shook his head. "Rachel got a scholarship to Washington State, and Rebecca married a Samoan surfer, she lives in Hawaii now."

"Married. Wow." I was stunned. The twins were only a little over a year older than I was. But it didn’t surprise me that they wanted to get out of Forks, after their mother, Sarah, died.

"So I heard you built your own car?" he asked.

"Yeah, it was sort of a bonding activity with my step-father, Phil. But I love it. It’s a 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback. Eleanor."

"That’s so cool!” He exclaimed. My dad won’t let me work on building another car, since we still had Old Red."

"Old Red?" I asked.

"Old chevy truck. Really sturdy, _reeeeally_ slow. Can’t go above sixty."

"Oh, that sucks. I like to drive fast," I admitted, chuckling.

"Yeah, well I won’t be going fast any time soon." He laughed. 

I couldn't help grinning back. "It would do great in a collision though," I offered in the truck's defense.

"I don't think a tank could take out that old monster," he agreed with another laugh.

"So you build cars?" I asked, impressed.

"When I have free time, and parts. You wouldn't happen to know where I could get my hands on a master cylinder for a 1986 Volkswagen Rabbit?" he added jokingly. He had a pleasant, husky voice.

"Sorry," I laughed, "I haven't seen any lately, but I'll keep my eyes open for you." He was very easy to talk with. He flashed a brilliant smile, looking at me appreciatively in a way I was learning to recognise. I wasn't the only one who noticed.

"You know Bella, Jacob?" Lauren asked, in what I imagined was an insolent tone, from across the fire.

"We've sort of known each other since I was born," he laughed, smiling at me again.

"How nice." She didn't sound like she thought it was nice at all, and her pale, fishy eyes narrowed.

"Bella," she called again, watching my face carefully, "I was just saying to Tyler that it was too bad none of the Cullens could come out today. Didn't anyone think to invite them?" Her expression of concern was unconvincing.

"You mean Dr. Carlisle Cullen's family?" the tall, older boy asked before I could respond, much to Lauren's irritation. He was really closer to a man than a boy, and his voice was very deep.

"Yes, do you know them?" she asked condescendingly, turning halfway toward him.

"The Cullens don't come here," he said in a tone that closed the subject, ignoring her question.

Tyler, trying to win back her attention, asked Lauren's opinion on a CD he held. She was distracted.

I stared at the deep-voiced boy, taken aback, but he was looking away toward the dark forest behind us. He'd said that the Cullens didn't come here, but his tone had implied something more, that they weren't allowed; they were prohibited. His manner left a strange impression on me, and it made me wonder if _this_ is what Edward wanted me to know. 

Jacob interrupted my meditation. "So is Forks driving you insane yet?"

"Oh, I'd say that's an understatement." I grimaced, a little too honest. He grinned understandingly.

I was still turning over the brief comment on the Cullens, and I had a sudden inspiration. It was a stupid plan, but I didn't have any better ideas. Seduction. It’s not like I could beat what I wanted to know out of him, so this was the next best thing. What I wanted to know was most likely only contained in oral histories. He wouldn’t be able to tell me anything if he was… unconscious.

"Do you want to walk down the beach with me?" I asked, trying to remember my brief lessons in seduction I was taught. I hoped it would have the same effect as the female instructor had on the younger male Initiates. It must have worked, as Jacob jumped up willingly enough.

As we walked north across the multihued stones toward the driftwood seawall, the clouds finally closed ranks across the sky, causing the sea to darken and the temperature to drop. I shoved my hands deep into the pockets of my jacket.

"So you're, what, sixteen?" I asked, smiling at him in a soft way, attempting to distract and compliment him.

"I just turned fifteen," he confessed, flattered.

"Really?" My face was full of false surprise. "I would have thought you were older." I knew exactly how old he was. Boys always liked it when you told them they seemed older.

"I'm tall for my age," he explained.

"Do you come up to Forks much?" I asked archly, as if I was hoping for a yes. I made my tone as light as possible but kept my eyes down, attempting to be shy. He still seemed flattered, so it seemed like it was going to plan.

"Not too much," he admitted with a frown. "But I can go up as much as I want — after I get my license," he amended.

"Who was that other boy Lauren was talking to? He seemed a little old to be hanging out with us." I purposefully lumped myself in with the youngsters, trying to make it clear that I preferred Jacob.

"That's Sam — he's nineteen," he informed me.

"What was that he was saying about the doctor's family?" I asked innocently.

"The Cullens? Oh, they're not supposed to come onto the reservation." He looked away, out toward James Island, as he confirmed what I'd thought I'd heard in Sam's voice.

"Why not?" I asked, making confusion colour my tone. Which wasn’t difficult. Though, thinking about it, the locals must know the Cullens’ aren’t human. 

He glanced back at me, biting his lip. "Oops. I'm not supposed to say anything about that."

I laughed lightly. "Oh, I won't tell anyone, I'm just curious." I tried to make my smile alluring but also making sure I wasn’t laying it on too thick.

He smiled back, though, looking allured. Then he lifted one eyebrow and his voice was even huskier than before. "Do you like scary stories?" he asked ominously.

"I love them," I enthused, winking at him.

Jacob strolled to a nearby driftwood tree that had its roots sticking out like the attenuated legs of a huge, pale spider. He perched lightly on one of the twisted roots while I sat beneath him on the body of the tree. He stared down at the rocks, a smile hovering around the edges of his broad lips. I could see he was going to try to make this good. I focused on keeping the vital interest I felt out of my eyes, not wanting to seem _too_ eager.

"Do you know any of our old stories, about where we came from — the Quileutes, I mean?" he began.

"Not really," I admitted.

"Well, there are lots of legends, some of them claiming to date back to the Flood — supposedly, the ancient Quileutes tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive like Noah and the ark." He smiled, to show me how little stock he put in the histories, but there was a hesitance there. “Another legend claims that we descended from wolves — and that the wolves are our brothers still. It's against tribal law to kill them. Then there are the stories about the cold ones." His voice dropped a little lower.

"The cold ones?" I asked, not faking my intrigue now.

"Yes. There are stories of the cold ones as old as the wolf legends, and some much more recent. According to legend, my own great-grandfather knew some of them. He was the one who made the treaty that kept them off our land.”

"Your great-grandfather?" I encouraged him.

"He was a tribal elder, like my father. You see, the cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf — well, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves."

"Werewolves have enemies?" I thought werewolves only turned with a full moon. He makes it sound like they can change at will. 

"Only one. So you see," Jacob continued, "the cold ones are traditionally our enemies. But this pack that came to our territory during my great-grandfather's time was different. They didn't hunt the way others of their kind did — they weren't supposed to be dangerous to the tribe. So my great-grandfather made a truce with them. If they would promise to stay off our lands, we wouldn't expose them to the pale-faces." He winked at me.

"If they weren't dangerous, then why...?" I tried to understand, struggling not to let him see how seriously I was considering his ghost story. Most legends, more often than not, have a grain of truth to them. 

"There's always a risk for humans to be around the cold ones, even if they're civilized like this clan was. You never know when they might get too hungry to resist." He deliberately worked a thick edge of menace into his tone.

"What do you mean, 'civilized'?"

"They claimed that they didn't hunt humans. They supposedly were somehow able to prey on animals instead."

I tried to keep my voice casual. "So how does it fit in with the Cullens? Are they like the cold ones your great grandfather met?"

"No." He paused dramatically. "They are the same ones." He must have thought the expression on my face was fear inspired by his story. He smiled, pleased, and continued.

"There are more of them now, a new female and a new male, but the rest are the same. In my great- grandfather's time they already knew of the leader, Carlisle. He'd been here and gone before your people had even arrived." He was fighting a smile.

"And what are they?" I finally asked. "What are the cold ones?" 

He smiled darkly. "Blood drinkers," he replied in a chilling voice. "Your people call them vampires."

Oh. My. _God_. Legit? That strangely made a whole lot of sense. But _vampires_? Obviously not like _Nosferatu_ or _Dracula_. Though, the Cullens’ _did_ mysteriously disappear on sunny days...

"You have goose bumps," he laughed delightedly.

"You're a good storyteller," I complimented him, though it was probably from the cold air than me being truly unnerved. Though, that might come later, when I was alone in my room, really thinking this over. 

"Pretty crazy stuff, though, isn't it? No wonder my dad doesn't want us to talk about it to anyone."

"Don't worry, I won't give you away."

"I guess I just violated the treaty," he laughed.

"I'll take it to the grave," I promised, and then I shivered.

"Seriously, though, don't say anything to Charlie. He was pretty mad at my dad when he heard that some of us weren't going to the hospital since Dr. Cullen started working there."

"I won't, of course not."

"So do you think we're a bunch of superstitious natives or what?" he asked in a playful tone, but with a hint of worry. 

I smiled at him warmly, making him blush slightly. "No, not at all. Your stories are a big part of your culture. People should respect that more. However, I think you're very good at telling scary stories, though. I still have goose bumps, see?" I held up my arm.

"Cool." He smiled.

Suddenly, the sound of the beach rocks clattering against each other warned us that someone was approaching. Our heads snapped up at the same time to see Mike and Jessica about fifty yards away, walking toward us.

"There you are, Bella," Mike called in relief, waving his arm over his head.

"Is that your boyfriend?" Jacob asked, alerted by the jealous edge in Mike's voice. I was surprised it was so obvious. I tried not to laugh.

"No, definitely not," I whispered, leaning in towards Jacob. I was tremendously grateful to Jacob, and eager to make him as happy as possible. I winked at him, carefully turning away from Mike to do so. He smiled, elated by my flirting.

"So when I get my license..." he began.

"You should come see me in Forks. We could hang out sometime." I felt a little guilty as I said this, knowing that I'd used him. But I really did like Jacob. He was someone I could easily be friends with and someone I still want to try to be. 

Mike had reached us now, with Jessica still a few paces back. I could see his eyes as he appraised Jacob and looked satisfied at his obvious youth.

"Where have you been?" he asked, though the answer was right in front of him.

"Jacob was just telling me some local stories," I volunteered. "It was really interesting."

I smiled at Jacob warmly, and he grinned back.

"Well," Mike paused, carefully reassessing the situation as he watched our camaraderie. "We're packing up, it looks like it's going to rain soon."

We all looked up at the glowering sky. It certainly did look like rain.

"Okay." I jumped up. "I'm coming."

"It was nice to see you again," Jacob said, and I could tell he was taunting Mike just a bit.

"It really was. Next time Charlie comes down to see Billy, I'll come, too," I promised, winking at him.

His grin stretched across his face. "That would be cool."

"And thanks," I added earnestly. “I really enjoyed your story telling.” 

I pulled up my hood as we tramped across the rocks toward the parking lot. A few drops were beginning to fall, making black spots on the stones where they landed. When we got to the Suburban the others were already loading everything back in. I crawled into the backseat by Angela and Tyler, announcing that I'd already had my turn in the shotgun position. Angela just stared out the window at the escalating storm, and Lauren twisted around in the middle seat to occupy Tyler's attention, so I could simply lay my head back on the seat and close my eyes and try very hard not to think.


End file.
